RG Kar: Junior doctors reach state secretariat to hold meeting with Bengal CM Mamata

Protesting junior doctors in West Bengal arrived at the state secretariat on Monday evening to meet Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in an effort to resolve the ongoing impasse following the rape-murder of an on-duty woman medic at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The doctors, however, asserted that they would continue their hunger strike demanding justice for the murdered doctor, removal of Health Secretary NS Nigam and enhanced security for healthcare workers, among other issues.

“We are looking for a positive outcome from the meeting,” said Debasish Halder, one of the agitating junior doctors, as they departed for Nabanna, the state secretariat, from their protest site at Esplanade, where they had been fasting since October 5.

The meeting, scheduled for 5 pm, follows threats from the protesting doctors to launch a statewide ‘cease work’ if their demands are not addressed. So far, six doctors on hunger strike had been hospitalised due to deteriorating health, while eight others remained on indefinite fast.

Banerjee spoke with the protesting doctors over the phone on Saturday, urging them to end their fast, asserting that most of their demands had been met. She requested an additional three to four months to address their remaining concerns.

The junior doctors launched their protests after the recovery of the body of a woman medic from a seminar room at RG Kar Medical Hospital on August 9, an incident that sparked outrage nationwide.

The junior doctors had previously ceased work for 42 days, ending their strike on September 21 after receiving assurances from the state government to consider their demands.