Monday, 14 October 2024
Monday, 14 October 2024
The hunger strike by junior doctors in Bengal entered its 10th day on Monday with chief secretary Manoj Pant calling for a meeting with senior doctors and the protesting medics readying a march to Raj Bhavan.
The state government, meanwhile, is preparing for its grand Durga Puja Carnival on Tuesday.
The doctors’ hunger strike, a part of the protests against the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, has seen four doctors being hospitalised in Calcutta as their health conditions deteriorate.
On Sunday night, Pulastha Acharya from NRS Medical College was admitted to hospital with severe stomach pain. He is in the Critical Care Unit (CCU), with his health parameters deteriorating.
One of the two doctors in north Bengal who joined the hunger strike along with the seven in Calcutta has also been hospitalised.
Dr. Anustup Mukherjee from Medical College Kolkata was shifted to the CCU on Sunday due to worsening health condition. He is currently stable at bed number 12 in the SSB CCU on the third floor of Calcutta Medical College.
Many of the doctors on hunger strike are visibly ill and tests have revealed significant ketone levels in their urine, a sign of prolonged starvation.
Despite the serious health risks, the hunger strike protest is ongoing. Dr Parichay Panda from VIMS and Dr Alolika Ghorui from CNMC joined the hunger strike last week.
The doctors on protest are demanding justice for the RG Kar victim, the removal of health secretary N.S. Nigam and measures to improve workplace security. They are also asking for the establishment of a centralised referral system, a bed vacancy monitoring system, and improved facilities like CCTV, on-call rooms, and washrooms in hospitals.
The junior doctors have planned a march towards Raj Bhawan at 1 pm on Monday. A team of the junior doctors will try to meet with governor C.V. Ananda Bose to present their demands.
Amid all this, the Bengal government is preparing for the grand Durga Puja Carnival, in which Calcutta’s biggest Durga Pujas do a sort of walk past akin to Republic Day celebrations, on October 15.
The government has expanded the event's area beyond Red Road to accommodate more visitors and crowds.
The junior doctors plan to form a human chain on the day of the carnival; Calcutta high court has forbidden any demonstration at the carnival.
Bengal chief secretary Manoj Pant has also called for a meeting with senior doctors on Monday, probably to urge them to advise the junior doctors to end their hunger strike.
The Telegraph Online had reported over the weekend that many private hospitals in Calcutta are observing cease-work of non-emergency services from Monday.
