Friday, 20 September 2024
Friday, 20 September 2024
Junior doctors who stayed back at Swasthya Bhavan while a delegation of 30 protesting doctors were meeting the chief minister at the state secretariat on Thursday, said they won’t return to festivities until the "rot in the system" is removed.
Welcoming the Bengal government’s “positive response” to hold talks in presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to resolve the RG Kar hospital impasse, agitating junior doctors on Thursday announced their decision to attend the proposed meeting at the state secretariat within the stipulated time of 5 pm.
The Telegraph Online visited the protest site at the Swasthya Bhavan and spoke to a few junior doctors and found that the medicos have clear course of future action outline, whatever be the outcome of the meeting.
“This is not the time to think about career. If we don’t protest today cases like this will increase in future and more Sandip Ghosh will come forward which will impact our career in future. My guardian is upset, career is at stake but still this is important. I am not at all happy with the Supreme Court order, instead of holding CBI and police accountable they are after junior doctors. There are 93,000 senior doctors in service and 7500 junior doctors how come health care system is at stake,” said Dr. Soham Ghosh, a second year post graduate trainee at the Calcutta Medical College.
The agony of Ghosh is reflected in the words of Dr Tipankar Pal.
“Can’t comment on the cease work statement till the meeting at Nabanna is done fully. Safety at work is our right and we will snatch it and bring it back no matter what,” said Pal, who studies at the neurology department at the SSKM.
The issue is no more restricted to the RG Kar rape-murder. It goes beyond the call for justice.
“Career and classes at stake. But till the day our didi (the trainee doctor who was raped and murder) isn’t getting justice, we shall fight. There are other issues too. NMC is confused. One day they say NEET will take place, another day they say it is postponed. I don’t know what lies ahead,” said Taznim Ahmed, a third year MBBS student at the Diamond Harbour government medical college.
The discussions over the rot in Bengal’s medical system will be discussed at the meeting today. But it’s clear the junior doctors are in no mood to relent.
“We have been protesting for 34 days now and this will go on till our demands are met. It has been three days over here & after today’s meeting with our CM if everything is agreed upon unanimously then we may join our duties but this fight will go on for the cause of justice for this murder and rape.” Sanchali Chakraborty, a junior doctor studying neurology at the SSKM Hospital, told The Telegraph Online.
Earlier, the junior doctors said they would stick to their demand of meeting government representatives with their 30-member delegation despite the chief secretary’s letter saying ‘only 15’ would be allowed. The doctors insisted on having a live stream of the proceedings of the proposed meeting on grounds that they “have nothing to hide”.
As the doctors have reached Nabanna, the CM Banerjee is supposed to be there and speak to them.
This is the third offer from the state government for talks in the last two days, with the agitators rejecting the previous two proposals and setting concrete conditions for the meeting.
