Junior doctors in all nine government-run medical colleges across West Bengal have gone on strike after an intern was critically injured in a clash that broke out following the death of a patient due to alleged negligence.
The doctors began the protest after two interns at the Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital (NRSMCH) sustained serious injuries in a clash between junior doctors and relatives of the deceased, late on Monday, 11 June.
“75-year-old Mohammed Shahid succumbed to critical chronic heart ailments, after which the patient's family started hurling abuses and even manhandled an on-duty intern. They falsely accused the doctors and created a ruckus in the medicine ward in front of hundreds of patients,” Wasim Akram, a student doctor at NRSMCH, who had been present at the site of the incident, told The Quint.
The protesters claim that two interns, Paribaha Mukherjee and Yash Tekhwani, were attacked by a mob which arrived at the hospital at around 11 pm and started to ransack its premises.
Mukherjee wound up with a fractured skull and is currently in coma, and Tekhwani is admitted in the ICU as well.
“The police remained deaf and mute. They even lathi-charged the interns who were protesting. More than 20 students were injured,” Abhishek Layek, a final year student at NRSMCH told The Quint.
The doctors are currently demanding government intervention. “We want Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to give us justice and support. It is impossible to work in the current situation”, Dr Sayan Santra, a PG student of Calcutta Medical College told The Quint.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC) President and TMC MLA Nirmal Maji told PTI that officials were trying to persuade the doctors to resume working.
“The chief minister has sent MoS Health Chandrima Bhattacharya, Police Commissioner Anuj Sharma, myself and other senior officials to talk to them. We are looking into their demand and hopefully, the matter will be solved quickly,” Maji said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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