The agitating junior doctors are adamant on the removal of Bengal health secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam from his post for what they call his role in “malicious affairs in the health department in the last four to five years”.

The junior doctors are also unhappy with the state ignoring their plea to end the “threat culture” prevailing in the state-run medical colleges and hospitals.

Both the removal of the health secretary Nigam and the end to “threat culture” were among the five demands made by the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front, which has been spearheading the movement against the state government for 40 days now and refused to resume duty at the medical colleges.

“During last evening’s [Wednesday] meeting, the chief secretary reiterated that he cannot take a decision on his own and would have to speak with the chief minister,” said Gauranga Pramanik, one of the members of the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front who had attended both the meetings held on Wednesday at the state secretariat and the one on Monday at Mamata Banerjee’s Kalighat residence.

On Wednesday, the representatives of the WBJDF met Bengal chief secretary Manoj Pant, acting DGP Rajiv Kumar, home secretary Nandini Chakravarty, Kolkata Police commissioner Manoj Verma and ADG law and order Jawed Shamim.

“We came back with the feeling that the chief secretary was being rigid on some points. If he had a little flexibility the situation would have improved,” Pramanik said.

In the copy of the minutes of the meeting – that The Telegraph Online has seen – that the junior doctors did not sign, both sides appear to be on the same page on most of the demands.

“WBJDF demanded the formation of Enquiry Committee against Principal Health Secretary for his role in malicious affairs in the Health Department in the last 4-5 years and direct and indirect involvement in promoting Health Syndicate in all tiers of the Health System and taking Disciplinary proceedings, if found guilty. CS stated that the Hon’ble CM has already verbally assured us in our last meeting held at the CM residence on 16/09/2024, regarding the removal from post of Principal Secretary Health, in due time. He asked WBJDF to place their trust in the State, and ensured a holistic enquiry of the entire health system of the State,” the minutes read.

This was the first point of disagreement between the government and the junior doctors. The demands were also placed before the chief minister on Monday night. Though Mamata did not agree to remove Nigam, who was given charge of the health department during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in May 2020, two other officials the director of health services Debashis Haldar and the director of medical education Kaustuv Nayek were transferred.

Nigam did not take calls to his number from The Telegraph Online.

On the demand for an end to the threat culture, the minutes of Wednesday’s meeting stated that the junior doctor representatives were “categorical” about not feeling safe under the “current scenario of safety, security and prevalence of threat culture in every medical college. A swift positive response from the state government is expected on these above-mentioned matters to instill confidence and a sense of security among the junior doctors to go back to work. The State government has appealed to the WBJDF representatives to go back to work as soon as possible. WBJDF has re-iterated the fact that the final call for the same will be taken after the central directives from the Govt. and discussions with all junior doctors.”

During the hearing before the three-member Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Tuesday, the counsels for the junior and senior doctors, Indira Jaising and Karuna Nundy, had raised the issue of threats being issued to the doctors.

While Bengal’s counsel Kapil Sibal had assured the court no punitive action will be taken against the junior doctors who are on cease-work, the protesters are not convinced

“Action can come in various forms including physical violence at the colleges, from the West Bengal Medical Council on cancelling registration and Swasthya Bhawan itself. Where is the assurance that we will be protected at all levels?” asked an intern at Calcutta Medical College and Hospital.

Several ministers and MLAs of the ruling Trinamul have been spewing venom against the agitating doctors and the common people who have hit the streets to support the movement.

Pramanik said the chief secretary had assured he would send a directive from the government on Thursday.

“We are waiting to hear from the chief secretary. We will also make it clear that the movement will continue till our colleague who was raped and murdered gets justice,” said Pramanik.