Junior doctors at the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital, who began a partial ceasework on Saturday night after several of their colleagues were suspended, on Sunday asserted that surgeries for pregnant women had been done under the supervision of seniors.

Denying charges of negligence in the wake of the death of a new mother and the critical illness of four others earlier this month, postgraduate trainees (PGTs) attached to the Midnapore hospital claimed they followed the National Medical Commission guidelines and their procedures were free of lapses.

They alleged that the Mamata Banerjee government had made scapegoats out of them, and claimed that the substandard Ringer’s lactate administered to the women was to blame.

The partial ceasework began at 11pm on Saturday and continued throughout Sunday, drawing participation from many doctors, particularly PGTs from the gynaecology department. Holding placards and posters, they demanded suspension orders be revoked and warned of a full-scale strike if their demands were unmet.

“We work under senior doctors’ supervision and have minimal independent roles since patients are admitted under the seniors. In this case too, there was no exception.... We only followed orders of our superiors,” said a PGT doctor. “Despite following instructions, why were suspension orders issued against us without any investigation?”

Mamani Ruidas, 30, a resident of Garbeta, West Midnapore, died at the Midnapore hospital on January 10. Three critically ill women who had just delivered babies — Mampi Singh, 23, Nasrin Khatun, 19, and Minara Bibi, 31, — were shifted to SSKM Hospital in Calcutta on January 12.

Rekha Shaw, the other patient to fall seriously ill after her Cesarean section, did not need to be shifted.

On Sunday, junior doctors submitted a letter to the medical college’s principal Moushumi Nandi, requesting a review of the suspension of the junior doctors, part of a broader action taken against 12 doctors by the state government following allegations of negligence by way of administering poor quality of Ringer’s lactate solution.

The suspended doctors are Soumen Das, residential medical officer (RMO); Dilip Kumar Pal and Himadri Nayek, assistant professors of gynaecology; Md Alauddin, head of the gynaecology department; Jayanta Kumar Routh, medical superintendent and vice-principal (MSVP); Pallabi Banerjee, senior resident; besides six PGTs — Moumita Mondal, Bhagyasree Kundu, Susanta Mondal, Pooja Saha, Manish Kumar and Jagriti Ghosh.

The agitating PGTs claimed on Sunday that a seventh junior doctor had been suspended subsequently, taking the total to 13.

The chief minister — also the health minister — announced the suspension of the 12 doctors on Thursday.

West Midnapore chief medical officer of health Soumya Sankar Sarengi said: "The PGTs submitted their demand to the principal (Moushumi Nandi), which she sent for consideration to the health directorate,” said Sarengi.

On Saturday, junior doctors convened a meeting to determine their course of action. Representatives of the Joint Platform of Junior Doctors joined the PGTs on campus, starting the protest in front of the principal’s office.

Initially, a complete strike was proposed, but the plan was modified to a partial ceasework so that medical services were not fully disrupted.

Subsequently, principal Nandi wrote to the additional director-general (CID) and the health directorate, requesting a reconsideration of the suspensions and urging against arrests.

The IMA Action Committee state branch, in a statement, slammed the government’s actions and repeated its demand for a full probe into the Ringer’s lactate. “A proper investigation into the source and cause of the contamination is essential."