Thursday, 10 October 2024
Thursday, 10 October 2024
The junior doctors on hunger strike in Calcutta to demand a clean-up of the public healthcare system in Bengal in the aftermath of the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital have received support from their compatriots across the country.
The protest site at Dorina Crossing in Esplanade was noticeably more crowded on Wednesday compared to the previous days. Despite the heat, many common people, including students and advocates, gathered in solidarity with the junior doctors.
Representatives from various Resident Doctors Associations (RDAs) joined the protest on Wednesday. Among them were Dr. Suvrankar Datta, Dr. Sourav Saha and Dr Soumit Dey from Delhi. There were also doctors from medical institutions in Jodhpur, Hyderabad, and Kalyani.
They expressed frustration over the state government's lack of response to the doctors’ demands and affirmed their support for the juniors on protest.
“My younger brothers and sisters are sitting on hunger strike for more than 80 hours, this is extremely disturbing,” said Dr Sangita Lahiri, a medical officer associated with the Central Government Health Scheme.
“Why the government is not responding to them I cannot understand. They have mere minimal demands which the government can fulfil within hours. Why are the authorities so rigid? I do not understand! Our guardians should have one work, that is to wish the best for us.”
She lauded the mass resignation of senior doctors at RG Kar on Tuesday and at Calcutta Medical College and Hospital and North Bengal Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday. Apart from these three medical colleges, 35 senior doctors resigned from the Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital and 33 from Sagore Dutta Hospital. In total, over 250 senior doctors have resigned in the past two days, as per news reports.
“I salute the support shown by the senior doctors. My professors at Calcutta Medical College have done a great job; I passed out from the same college back in 2009. I feel so proud as a doctor and as a human being for the work done by the senior doctors,” Lahiri said.
The junior doctors said the protest had become their festival.
“During Durga Puja people generally go out with family and friends and eat good food, but this time the doctors of our state are sitting on a hunger strike for more than 80 hours,” said Dr Sayan Mandal, an intern at Midnapore Medical College who was at the protest site.
“The CBG levels of some doctors have fallen to 66, which is critical, and there is till now no statement from the government. We are not against Puja, we are just asking for support,” Mandal said.
Two doctors from north Bengal have also joined the hunger strike. And the juniors are grateful to the senior doctors who have resigned in their support.
“Our teachers are standing by us at such a time,” said Dr Sabit Hussain, 24, an intern at Calcutta Medical College.
“Previously also, whenever anything happened in our college our teachers were always by our side. From what I have heard, principals of colleges were given threats at Nabanna that action will be taken against them as they are supporting our protest. However, I have not seen any video of it.
“I do not have the exact number as to how many teachers resigned but they did in large numbers,” Hussain said.
“This is a huge step taken by our professors. The state government should understand that we have taken this step because no option was left with us; we are fighting for the mere basics for our patients,” he added.
A passerby fell ill due to the heat and was lying on a bench at the protest site. The protesting doctors immediately came to her aid, attending to her needs. A few doctors spoke on the microphone, explaining to the crowd why the protest was necessary and justified.
Dr Subarna Goswami, member of the Joint Forum of Doctors West Bengal, told The Telegraph Online that senior doctors of Bengal have supported the junior doctors’ movement from Day One.
“Our collective opinion is that a poor girl was a victim of a criminal nexus run in the government college by some doctors who are close to the ruling political party,” Goswami said.
“When we are demanding justice for Abhaya, we mean clearance of criminal nexus and punishing those involved with tampering of evidence. Everybody must be put under scanner. This threat culture run by the close members of the current ruling party must also be uprooted.
“This mass resignation is also a way of protest and is not a happy moment for us,” he added. “The senior doctors are showing their solidarity with the fasting junior doctors and with every passing day we are becoming more determined to fight against all odds.”
