The Bengal branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) wants a meeting with chief minister Mamata Banerjee to let her know their grievances and demand for justice for the 31-year-old doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.
Representatives of several doctors’ associations, including the IMA, met Bengal’s health secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam and other health officials at Swasthya Bhavan on Saturday to discuss measures that could persuade the protesting junior doctors to call off their cease-work.
The cease-work has been continuing since the young doctor was found raped and murdered.
The meeting remained inconclusive, several doctors who were present said. The doctors also said the health department officials wanted them to appeal to the junior doctors to return to work.
The junior doctors did not attend Saturday’s meeting. Health officials said they are demanding a separate meeting.
“We have several grievances regarding the probe and how the entire episode has been handled by the state government. We want to meet the chief minister and tell her about this,” said Dwaipayan Mojumdar, one of the representatives of the IMA, Bengal, who attended the meeting.
Mojumdar said the IMA is upset over the “lack of transparency” in the probe, lack of action against Sandip Ghose, during whose tenure as RG Kar principal the crime happened, and the decision to appoint him as principal of Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital following his resignation from his position at RG Kar.
Several senior doctors said after coming out of the meeting that they were “disappointed”.
“We don’t know why the health department officials called us to the meeting. The meeting lasted for almost two hours but never once were we told about plans to improve the government healthcare system,” said Manas Gomta, a member of the Association of Health Service Doctors and the Joint Platform of Doctors.
“We flagged lack of transparency in the probe, activities of syndicates that control the healthcare system and other issues. The health secretary only said they would look into the problems. He gave no concrete solutions. The meeting was unfruitful,” said Gomta.
Asked about the cease-work by junior doctors, the seniors said they were not representing them.
“We are not representing the junior doctors. Their leadership will decide what to do. We came to discuss our grievances regarding the unfortunate incident and wanted to know what steps the authorities have taken,” said Koushik Chaki, a member of the Joint Platform of Doctors.
The junior doctors said they would continue with the cease-work.
“We are demanding justice and the arrest of all culprits involved in the rape and murder. Those have not been met. So, we’ll continue with the cease-work. We have told the CBI that whether our cease-work will continue or not depends on the progress of the investigation,” said Aniket Mahato, a protesting junior doctor at RG Kar.
Health secretary Nigam said they heard the grievances of the senior doctors.
“We clearly told them in today’s meeting that the state government will not spare anyone found guilty of any misconduct,” said Nigam.
On Friday, Nigam had renewed an appeal to the striking junior doctors to resume work and said specialised care, available only in medical colleges, was badly hit.
“The strike has affected patient services in various tertiary and secondary care hospitals across the state. Specialised care like cancer care, cardiology and neurological care are available only in medical colleges,” Nigam had said on Friday.
On Saturday morning, the state’s director of medical education, Kaustav Nayek, met the protesting doctors at RG Kar. “We have explained to them the situation and the problem faced by patients.”
