West Bengal’s junior doctors on Monday, 17 June, called off their seven-day protest after meeting with CM Mamata Banerjee. Thirty-one representatives, including two from each medical college of the state, met with the CM. In their statement, they thanked the CM and assured the press that they would resume work as soon as is possible.
In the meeting, Banerjee accepted the doctors’ demands for setting up grievance redressal cells at government hospitals. She also stressed on increased security at hospitals, including installation of collapsible gates at the entrances of emergency ward.
Doctors in major cities across the country – Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad – had been protesting and boycotting work in a show of solidarity with their protesting colleagues in Kolkata.
On Thursday, 13 June, Prof Saibal Kumar Mukherjee and Prof Saurabh Chattopadhyay resigned as the Principal and Medical Superintendent and Vice Principal respectively of NRS Medical College and Hospital.
- A severe assault on junior doctors in Kolkata’s NRS Medical College and Hospital triggered the backlash
- Paribaha Mukhopadhyay, one of the injured interns, wound up with a fractured skull and is “recovering well”
- The Indian Medical Association had called for a nationwide strike on Monday, 17 June
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)
People Queue Up at North Bengal Medical College & Hospital in Siliguri
People form a queue at the OPD ticket counter of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in West Bengal’s Siliguri after doctors called off their strike following a meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday, 17 June.
Resident Doctors Association of AIIMS Delhi Withdraws Strike
The Resident Doctors Association of AIIMS in New Delhi has withdrawn the strike.
"With the decision of the protesting doctors of West Bengal to call off the strike, the resident doctors at AIIMS New Delhi will resume their duties with immediate effect," news agency ANI quoted AIIMS RDA as saying on Tuesday, 18 June.
Doctors Resume Work Today, End of Strike Brings Relief to Patients
Doctors and patients in Delhi shared a sense of relief as resident doctors in West Bengal ended their week-long strike on Monday, 17 June, evening, according to an Indian Express report on Tuesday, 18 June.
Patients were inconvenienced on 17 June as doctors at government and also at a few private hospitals in the national capital boycotted work to show solidarity with their striking colleagues in Bengal.
Resident Doctors' Association of the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), which had earlier decided not to join the strike, announced withdrawal of all non-essential services from 12 noon on Monday till 6 am on Tuesday, after a junior doctor at its trauma centre was allegedly manhandled on Sunday, 16 June, by the attendants of a patient.
Opposition Parties Welcome Junior Doctors Decision to Call off Stir
Opposition parties in West Bengal on Monday, 17 June, welcomed the decision of junior doctors to call off their week-long stir and urged the state government to ensure a proper working atmosphere and infrastructure for doctors working at government hospitals.
The ruling Trinamool Congress too welcomed the decision but urged the opposition parties not to politicise the matter.
"We welcome the decision by the junior doctors to withdraw the strike. We are happy about it. It is a huge relief for poor people and patients. We would urge the state government to ensure proper working atmosphere and infrastructure for the doctors working in government hospitals," news agency PTI quoted BJP state president, Dilip Ghosh, as saying.
CPI(M) central committee member Sujan Chakraborty also welcomed the decision and blamed "the arrogant" approach by Mamata Banerjee for the week-long impasse.
State Congress President Somen Mitra welcomed the decision as well.