Kolkata: The agitating junior doctors in West Bengal continued their strike on Monday and said they will stick to their resolve to get justice for the victim of the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder incident.
The doctors’ sit-in protest outside Swasthya Bhavan, the headquarters of the health department, entered the eighth day and their strike entered the 36th day. They have vowed to continue their protest until their demands of removing the Kolkata Police commissioner and meeting senior health officials of the state are met.
A protesting junior doctor said, “We will continue the strike till our demands are met. The state government is not serious about resolving this crisis.” West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Saturday made a surprise visit to the protest site of junior doctors and assured them that their demands will be looked into and action will be taken against anyone found guilty. But after the proposed talks to resolve the impasse failed, the protesters claimed that they were asked to leave the venue after waiting for three hours at the Chief Minister’s residence.
Another doctor claimed that they had agreed to attend the meeting without live telecast or video recording as requested by Mamata and Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya was informed of the decision but the protesters were asked to leave the Chief Minister’s residence saying it was too late now.
A few previous attempts at dialogue between junior doctors and Mamata have also failed due to disagreements over live telecast of meetings and the number of delegates present. The body of a postgraduate trainee woman doctor was found in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is investigating the incident on the orders of the Calcutta High Court.