Kolkata medics to continue 'cease-work'; seek another meeting with CM Mamata

Junior doctors continue their `dharna` against the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder incident/ PTI

Junior doctors protesting the rape and murder at RG Kar Hospital have decided to continue their strike and sit-in, despite recent adjustments by the state government. These included Manoj Kumar Verma's appointment as the new Kolkata Police Commissioner, succeeding Vineet Goyal, and the expulsion of two senior health department officials. The doctors, however, described these steps as just a "partial victory", reported PTI.

According to the report, after a late-night meeting, the junior doctors sought the ouster of Health Secretary NS Nigam, stating that they had been promised action by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during their previous Monday meeting. They intend to email Chief Secretary Manoj Pant on Wednesday morning to request another meeting with the CM later that day.

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Furthermore, the doctors want to talk about strengthening the safety and security of medical professionals in hospitals, as well as precise plans for how the government will spend the Rs 100 crore set aside for this purpose. They argued that effective security measures require a fundamental revamp of the public healthcare system. This involves improving the referral procedure, selecting health staff and patient counsellors, combating admission corruption, and assuring access to life-saving drugs, the report added.

"No effective security measures can be implemented in hospitals without a thorough overhaul of public healthcare delivery mechanism including streamlining of the referral system, the appointment of health workers and professional patient counsellors, plugging of admission corruption and ensuring availability of life-saving drugs," the statement read.

Reportedly, the doctors also demanded rapid notification of a task team led by the Chief Secretary, as promised during Monday's meeting with the CM. They are also advocating for student body elections and increased involvement of junior doctors in decision-making bodies at medical colleges.

The Bengal government named Verma as the new Kolkata Police Commissioner, a day after Banerjee met with agitating junior physicians and agreed to their demands to resolve the RG Kar hospital issue, which had been ongoing for over a month, the news agency report stated.

Furthermore, the removal of Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Police's North Division Abhishek Gupta, Director of Medical Education (DME) Kaustav Nayak, and Director of Health Services (DHS) Debashis Halder was also promised by Banerjee during the meeting.

While no appointment was made public for the DME role, Swapan Soren was named the acting DHS, the report added.

After a lengthy meeting with the medical staff on Monday night, Banerjee said that Goyal will be replaced. Goyal had come under fire for his treatment of the rape and killing of a female doctor at the RG Kar hospital, reported PTI.