The indefinite fast by two junior doctors at the North Bengal Medical College & Hospital (NBMCH) here entered the fourth day on Thursday even as their health conditions deteriorated.

The number of senior doctors at the NBMCH who have tendered mass resignations reached 50 by Wednesday late evening.

On Monday, Alok Kumar Verma, a first-year postgraduate student in psychiatry, and Souvik Banerjee, an intern at the North Bengal Dental College & Hospital, which is also on the NBMCH campus, launched an indefinite hunger strike. The fast was over a slew of demands raised by their colleagues at the state-run medical colleges in Bengal after the brutal rape and murder of the woman doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Calcutta.

Sources in the NBMCH said both the junior doctors tested positive for ketone body.

“Our body produces ketone bodies when it breaks down fat for energy, instead of glucose which is the primary energy source of the cells. This can happen when a person fasts for a long time,” said a senior doctor.

According to him, a normal ketone level is under 0.6 mmol/L while a level ranging from 0.6–1.5 mmol/L is slightly high.

“The protesters have ketone body levels of one plus and three plus. This means their health conditions are deteriorating and there can be an effect on their organs,” the doctor added.

Kaustav Chakrabortty, president of the NBMCH branch of the Resident Doctors Association, said the state government should take initiatives to fulfil their demands so that the protesters could end the fast.

“If anything unfortunate happens to them, the government will be responsible. The senior doctors are wholeheartedly supporting us and after mass resignation, they can make further moves if the situation doesn’t change,” said Chakrabortty.