50 senior doctors of RG Kar hospital resign in solidarity with medics on fast
Kolkata: In a mass resignation, 50 senior doctors of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH) stepped down from their faculty posts on Tuesday to put pressure on the Mamata Banerjee government to fulfil the ten demands of the junior doctors, now on a hunger strike, for betterment of healthcare infrastructure and security. They have also kept the option of quitting their service.
The seniors were seen signing the mass resignation letter in a queue at RGKMCH around afternoon. They were later hailed by their juniors who greeted them with claps in the corridor. Their letter, that called for speedy redressal by the government of the junior doctors’ demands, was sent to director medical education of the state health department later.
The letter stated, “We, the undersigned doctors of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, have been striving to provide optimal hospital services. However, the current conditions have made it increasingly challenging to deliver the quality of patient care that is essential. The health of the protesting doctors who are currently sitting in hunger strike is deteriorating tremendously fast.”
It added, “We request the government to come into reconciliation with the protesting doctors and the ones who are sitting in indefinite hunger strike immediately. We senior doctors of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital are giving mass resignation as the government seems to be oblivious of the deteriorating condition of the doctors on hunger strike and if situation demands we will also go for individual resignation.”
The decision of the mass resignation, which came amid Durga Puja, was taken at a meeting of all the heads of the departments at RGKMCH in the morning. Within hours of the dramatic move at RGKMCH, a group of senior doctors of Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, another government-run healthcare facility, also threatened to follow the same step.
