Mamata's unconditional apology, police security at hospitals: Striking Bengal doctors set 6 demands to withdraw stir

Agitating doctors Friday demanded Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's unconditional apology and set six conditions for the state government to withdraw their four-day-long stir that disrupted healthcare services across West Bengal.

"We want unconditional apology of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the manner in which she had addressed us at the SSKM Hospital yesterday. She should not have said what she had," a spokesperson of the joint forum of junior doctors, Dr Arindam Dutta, said.

While visiting the SSKM Hospital on Thursday, Banerjee had contended that "outsiders" had entered medical colleges to create disturbances and the agitation was a conspiracy by the CPI(M) and the BJP.

Listing the six conditions, the agitators said the chief minister will have to visit the injured doctors at the hospital and her office should release a statement condemning the attack on them.

"We want unconditional apology of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for the manner in which she had addressed us at the SSKM Hospital yesterday. She should not have said what she had," a spokesperson of the joint forum of junior doctors, Dr Arindam Dutta, said.

"We also want immediate intervention of the chief minister. Documentary evidence of judicial enquiry against the inactivity of the police to provide protection to the doctors at the Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital on Monday night should also be provided," he said.

"We demand documentary evidence and details of action taken against those who had attacked us," Dutta said.

They also demanded unconditional withdrawal of all "false cases and charges" which were imposed on junior doctors and medical students across West Bengal in the wake of their strike.

They also stressed on their demand for improvement of infrastructure in all health facilities as well as posting of armed police personnel there. 

Close to 200 senior doctors of various state-run hospitals across West Bengal resigned from their services Friday amid the ongoing agitation by the medical fraternity against the violence at NRS Medical College and Hospital here.

175 doctors of state-run SSKM Hospital have resigned so far. In NRS hospital, the epicentre of the turbulence, so far 82 doctors have resigned including the principal and super. 

The doctors, including heads of departments of medical colleges and other hospitals in Kolkata, Burdwan, Darjeeling and North 24 Parganas districts, sent their resignation letters to the state director of medical education, a senior health department official told PTI.

The principal and the medical superintendent of the NRS Medical College and Hospital submitted their resignations on Thursday night.

The IMA launched a four-day nationwide protest from Friday to express solidarity with the doctors agitating against the attack on their colleagues in West Bengal and has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding enactment of a central law to check violence against health care workers in hospitals.

Condemning any form of violence especially against medical professionals in the country, the apex body of doctors said the protest will continue on Saturday and Sunday as well, which will include wearing black badges, dharnas and peace marches, and called for a strike on June 17 with withdrawal of non-essential health services.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA), which had earlier called for a day-long protest, said it has taken the decision in view of the continued suffering of the resident doctors and repeated occurrence of such incidents without redressal. 

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Friday urged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to not make this sensitive matter a "prestige issue" while asking her to ensure an "amicable end" to the stir.

In a letter to Banerjee, the Union minister urged her to ensure an "amicable end" to the protests and provide a secure working environment for doctors.

He also appealed to the agitating doctors, particularly in West Bengal, to hold symbolic protests and resume work so that patients do not suffer.

"Doctors should resort to other simple and symbolic ways of protest. As medical professionals, their duty is towards protecting the rights of their patients. Strike is certainly not the best way to protest. Patients should not be deprived of immediate and emergency healthcare facilities," the Union health minister said.

The Calcutta High Court on Friday refused to pass any interim order on the strike by junior doctors at state-run hospitals in protest against the attack on two of their colleagues by family members of a patient.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice TBN Radhakrishnan and Justice Suvra Ghosh asked the state government to persuade the striking doctors to resume work and provide usual services to patients.

The court also directed the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government to apprise it of the steps taken following the attack on the junior doctors at a city hospital on Monday night.

The Chief Justice, during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), reminded the striking doctors of the 'Hippocratic Oath' they take to ensure the welfare of all patients.

The bench fixed June 21 for further hearing of the petition.