Junior doctors of several government medical colleges will meet the authorities on Monday for updates on what measures are being implemented to improve safety on the campus and to end a “culture of threat and intimidation” by a section of their colleagues, the junior doctors said on Sunday.
The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front is also thinking of submitting their requirements for a safe campus to the Supreme Court when a bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud next hears the case on the rape and murder of the 31-year old postgraduate trainee at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The junior doctors were on a 42-day cease-work since August 9, which was partially withdrawn on Saturday.
Some junior doctors said they have seen some work being done on their campuses, while others said that the authorities of the colleges during informal chats informed them about work that has already started.
Installation of CCTVs, on-call rooms, duty rooms, adequate number of washrooms were some of the measures that the junior doctors demanded. Bengal’s chief secretary Manoj Pant had issued a set of directives in a letter to the health secretary to implement these measures.
Senior officials of some medical colleges also told The Telegraph that they have started installing CCTVs or have completed the identification of locations to install them.
Aniket Mahato, a postgraduate trainee at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, said junior doctors at the hospital will meet the authorities on Monday.
“We will have a meeting among ourselves and then meet the principal to seek an update on what measures are being implemented. A senior official of the college has informed us that work to install CCTVs has begun in the cardiology, cardiothoracic and vascular surgery sections,” he said.
Mahato said the junior doctors’ front has plans to write to the chief secretary later this week about the progress of safety measures being implemented.
The Telegraph spoke with a public works department official who was inspecting the RG Kar campus on Saturday.
“We will install 500 new CCTVs on the campus. The locations have been identified by police, the CISF and the hospital authorities,” the PWD official said.
The PWD is responsible for the maintenance of facilities at government hospitals in the state.
“Installation of CCTVs has already started in some departments in our hospital. Junior doctors from each department will also speak among themselves and their department senior to take a stock of what changes are happening on the ground,” said a postgraduate trainee at SSKM Hospital.
A senior official of SSKM Hospital told The Telegraph on Sunday that the hospital had already received about ₹8 crore from the state government to install CCTVs and build infrastructure demanded by the junior doctors. “We have 1,024 CCTVs. We are installing 450 more CCTVs after fresh inspections,” he said.
An official at Medical College Kolkata said 400 more CCTVs are being installed. “The work has already started. Besides, the work to create separate washrooms and rest rooms for male and female doctors, drinking water facilities have also started,” said the official.
While announcing the partial withdrawal of their 42-day cease-work on Friday, the junior doctors threatened to return to complete cease-work unless the state government implemented the safety measures within seven days.
