Mass Resignation Trend Among West Bengal Senior Doctors

Kolkata: The mass resignation trend has been spreading fast among the senior doctors at various government medical colleges and hospitals in West Bengal a day after it began at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH).

So far, 224 senior faculties have stepped down from their posts to put pressure on the Mamata Banerjee government to fulfil the ten demands of the junior doctors, who have been on a fast unto death at Dharmatala in the heart of the city for the last four days, for improvement in healthcare infrastructure.

While 50 senior doctors quit their posts at RGKMCH on Tuesday, 174 followed them on Wednesday. Among the 174, 70 are from Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, 35 are from Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital, 50 are from North Bengal Medical College and Hospital and 19 are from Jalpaiguri Medical College.

At Sagar Dutta Medical College in North 24 Parganas, another 30 have threatened mass resignation with a deadline to meet the demands. The development came on a day a private hospital, Apollo Multi-speciality Hospital, in the city got a notice from its consultants to stop “all non-emergency clinical work” on October 14 to support the junior doctors’ stir.

In the evening state chief secretary Manoj Pant invited the junior doctors, on an indefinite hunger strike, to talks at the state secretariat Nabanna at around 8 pm. The young medics agreed to attend the meeting but made it clear that they would not get into any negotiation with the government.

Meanwhile governor CV Ananda Bose and film personality Aparna Sen visited the agitation venue to offer solidarity to the junior doctors. Earlier in the day, the city witnessed a protest rally in memory of Abhaya, the lady doctor who was raped and murdered at RGKMCH. The police stopped the march at various junctions due to arrangements for Durga Puja.