New Delhi: The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front called off their fast unto death after a meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday evening. The doctors were on hunger strike at Kolkata’s Esplanade since October 5.
Earlier, the protesting medicos met CM Mamata Banerjee and a 10-point charter of demands of the doctors was taken up. The issue of the prevalent “threat culture” at state-run hospitals was also addressed. It was the first meeting between the doctors and the CM that was streamed live from the state secretariat Nabanna.
During the meeting , it was decided that a state-level task force committee will be set up by March 2025. This panel will comprise five representatives from the state government, headed by the Chief Secretary, as well as five representatives from the medical fraternity, including two senior resident doctors, two junior resident doctors, and a female student. It will monitor the functioning of all grievances related to college and address issues pertaining to health.
A PTI report stated that the CM requested the junior doctors to call off their fast, and said that the majority of their demands had already been met by the state government, except for the ousting of State Health Secretary NS Nigam.
CM assures to look into demands
The meeting was convened to break the deadlock over demands made by the junior doctors following the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical Hospital on August 9.
Since the ghastly incident, junior doctors have carried out two statewide cease-work protests, along with the ongoing indefinite hunger strike that has lasted 17 days. They have demanded justice for the victim of the RG Kar rape-murder case and called for systemic changes in the state’s healthcare infrastructure.
The doctors had issued a threat that if their demand to remove State Health Secretary N S Nigam was not fulfilled, a nationwide strike by doctors would be launched on October 22. Mamata Banerjee vowed to look into their demands once again after the meeting.
