Debunking the claims that the protesting doctors have called off their indefinite hunger strike only AFTER meeting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday, October 21, a member of the West Bengal Junior Doctors' Front (WBJDF) Dr Debashis Halder, revealed that the strike was actually called off after meeting the parents of Abhaya (name changed), the deceased doctor who was brutally raped and murdered on August 9, 2024, at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
Following the gruesome rape-murder barely two months ago, the junior doctors, residents, and others from the medical fraternity launched protests and strikes, with 10 firm demands. As the state government paid no heed, seven doctors started an indefinite hunger strike in the first week of October.
For more on the demands, read: https://www.edexlive.com/news/2024/Oct/21/rg-kar-rape-murder-doctors-meet-cm-mamata-banerjee-again-to-reiterate-these-10-demands
The October 21 talks with the Government of West Bengal were one of the few mediation dialogues held between the administration and the doctors.
Hours later, after the meeting with the chief minister on October 21, the front announced that the protesting junior doctors and those on indefinite hunger strike had decided to call off their fast unto death. Even the strike in Bengal's hospitals was called off.
It may be recalled that the call for a meeting with the CM was given by Chief Secretary Manoj Pant after he and Principal Secretary Nandini Chkaravorty visited the junior doctors at their protest site in Esplanade. What transpired in the meeting and what led to the calling off of the strike?
Meeting with the CM
It is learnt that the meeting started around 5 pm on October 21 and a delegation of 17 representatives attended the meeting. Allegedly, their phones were taken away by the officials before they entered the meeting room and the meeting was live-streamed.
From the government side, the following are the officials who were part of the meeting:
Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister
Nandini Chakravorty, Principal Secretary, Home and Hill Affairs
Dr Manoj Pant, Chief Secretary
Narayan Swaroop Nigam, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare
Rajeev Kumar, Director General of Police (DGP), West Bengal
Additionally, around five principals and medical superintendent vice-principals (MSVP) of five medical colleges were present. These five colleges are:
Medical College Kolkata
Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research and Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital (IPGMER & SSKM)
RG Kar Medical College and Hospital
Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital (CNMC)
Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital (NRS)
"The meeting which ended after two hours, at around 7.15 pm, was neither positive nor satisfactory," shared Dr Halder.
"Earlier, we urged for live-streaming of our talks, but it turned out to be a deal breaker. Yesterday, without informing us in advance, our phones were taken away and the talks were live-streamed from their side," he informed.
What happened in the meeting?
Dr Halder disclosed the primary discussion was around their 10 demands concerning the safety and security of healthcare professionals plus the eradication of threat culture prevalent in medical colleges and hospitals.
However, these points were not thoroughly discussed. "The government's behaviour and the outlook was threatening, dismissive and cynical," Dr Halder told EdexLive in dismay.
Giving more details, he said the principals of colleges were not allowed to speak and were questioned about forming inquiry committees and punishing those who were found guilty of permeating threat culture.
"Following the National Medical Commission's (NMC) directives, a few colleges formed inquiry committees and punished those found guilty of spreading threat culture via suspension or expulsion. The CM remarked that these methods are not right and called it 'counter-threat culture'," Dr Halder said.
Further, it is learnt that the principals were even questioned about how they formed inquiry committees and punished those who were guilty without informing the CM.
Demands fulfilled?
Concerning the demands of eliminating threat culture, the government has assured that a State Task Force will be formed consisting of the chief secretary, health secretary and five representatives from the doctors. Considering this as the only positive outcome, Halder said, "Although a task force was formed, there was no directive or notice regarding the same. The government did agree to send the directive by today (October 22)."
"Even though our representatives are a part of the task force, we are still concerned about the existing threat culture," he stressed.
As per reports, the government agreed to the demands of the junior doctors to form stakeholders’ committees in all government medical colleges. The committees will have postgraduate trainees (PGTs), interns and students as representatives.
Moreover, with regard to the commencement of student union elections, Halder said, "The CM said it would happen only in March 2025."
This point of student elections was even raised in the Supreme Court during one of the RG Kar hearings. However, the apex court asked the doctors to move Calcutta High Court as it didn't want to expand the ambit of the RG Kar proceedings.
According to Indira Jaising, counsel for the junior doctors, student elections in Bengal's medical colleges had not been conducted since 2022, even though they have to be held annually as per law.
Call-off strike
Debunking the claims that the strike was called off based on the conclusions of the meeting, Dr Halder said, "After the meeting, we arrived at the protest site and 30 minutes later, Abhaya's parents reached the site too. They said we already lost our daughter, we didn't want to lose any more sons or daughters. Following which, a collective decision was made to call off the strike."
Convention ahead
The fight for justice has not ended yet. In a statement post-meeting, the WBJDF made it clear that "...the movement will be further carried on and is in no way being withdrawn, till justice is served."
On October 26, the doctors have scheduled a mass convention at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Speaking on this, Dr Halder said, "Eminent personalities from all fields, senior doctors, every association, feminist groups and everyone from Bengal are invited. During the convention, we will discuss and decide the plan of action for our movement and continue our fight for justice."