Aniket Mahata, a prominent face of the junior doctors’ protest who had to be rushed to hospital on October 10 while on a fast unto death, was discharged from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Thursday evening.

In the evening, junior doctors called a press conference where they held up photographs of at least two medical colleges and alleged that the government’s claim that 90 per cent of the work to set up infrastructure was over was false.

The state government has recently said 90 per cent of the work related to the setting up of CCTV cameras, washrooms, on-call rooms and changing rooms, which started following the furore over the rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar on August 9, was over.

Thursday was the 13th day of the fast unto death of junior doctors. So far, six fasting doctors have been admitted to hospital after their condition worsened.

Of them, only Mahata has been discharged so far.

The Telegraph asked Mahata if he would rejoin the fast. He said he would speak with his fellow junior doctors and then make a decision.

“I have been advised rest and medicines for another seven days. It is sad that the state government is still not taking any steps to have a discussion with us and end this impasse. Several of my fellow protesters have taken ill and three of them are still in hospital. We will continue with our movement till all our demands are met. I will decide my course of action after speaking with my fellow junior doctors,” he said.

Mahata had joined the fast unto death at Esplanade on October 6, a day after a group of junior doctors started it to press for a 10-point charter of demands, which included the introduction of a central referral system for patients, removal of N.S. Nigam from the post of health secretary and an investigation into complaints of corruption against the West Bengal Medical Council.

On Thursday evening, seven junior doctors from medical colleges across the state were fasting on a dais opposite Metro cinema.

Soma Mukhopadhyay, who is in charge of the critical care unit at RG Kar and
the head of the anaesthesiology department, said Mahata has been prescribed medicines to keep his blood pressure under check and advised complete rest for the
next seven days.

“The medical team has recommended that he (Mahata) should take water and
food on time. His blood pressure needs to be monitored regularly and he cannot fast. He must get himself checked in the medicine department (of RG Kar) after a week,”
she said.

The other three junior doctors who are still in hospital are Tanaya Panja, Pulastya Acharyya and Anustup Mukherjee.

A senior official at Medical College Kolkata, where Panja and Mukherjee are being treated, said Mukherjee was shifted from the critical care unit to the high dependency unit on Friday night.

“Mukherjee is stable and can eat semi-solid food. Panja is responding to medicines but she is on liquid diet,” the official said.

An official at NRS Medical College and Hospital, where Acharya is being treated, said the acute kidney injury the junior doctor had suffered during the fast was healing.

“His blood sugar level is fluctuating. His acute kidney injury is improving. He is on an intravenous drip and under constant monitoring in the critical care unit,” the official said.

As for the state government’s claim that 90 per cent of the work related to the upgrade of infrastructure at medical colleges and other hospitals is over, Aqeeb Ashraf, a protesting junior doctor, told this newspaper: “The government has claimed that they have installed 150 CCTV cameras at Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital. We clicked photographs today of the spots where the cameras are to be set up. There are no cameras.”

Ashraf said pictures of Midnapore Medical College and Hospital laid bare the dismal state of the changing rooms, washrooms and on-call rooms. “We have photographs to prove what work has been done and what hasn’t been done. We don’t understand why the state government is making false claims in the Supreme Court,” said Ashraf.

The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF) gave a call for a “rally of the masses” from Sodepur to the protest site at Esplanade on Saturday.

The doctors, however, did not specify other details till late on Thursday evening, such as the time and the route.

On Thursday, the WBJDF also gave a call for a signature campaign in support of their movement.

The junior doctors hired three mini-trucks that they took to several places across the city, including College Street, Shyambazar and Ultadanga, to collect signatures.

The doctors said they collected 1,200 signatures till the evening.

In the evening, the doctors told reporters that the police had lodged several cases against all three vehicles.

“Each mini-truck was fined Rs 15,000. They cannot crush our movement by filing cases against us,” a junior doctor said.

A senior officer of Kolkata Police said they had told the junior doctors that goods vehicles are only allowed on the city’s thoroughfares during certain periods of the day.

“The doctors refused to listen to us,” the officer said.

The police, however, did not confirm whether such cases were indeed lodged against the trucks.