Kolkata: Junior doctors agitating over RG Kar murder early Wednesday said they will continue their sit-in and not join duty, despite the state appointing Manoj Kumar Verma as the new Kolkata Police chief, replacing Vineet Goyal, and removing two senior health department officials, giving in to the medics’ earlier demands.
According to a statement issued following the conclusion of their general body meeting, which had started around 6.30 pm and went on till well past midnight, the protestors called the state’s administrative measures “only partial victory” of their movement.
The doctors demanded the removal of the state health secretary NS Nigam, saying they were assured by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during the Monday of an action on it.
The doctors said they will send an email to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant after daybreak seeking an appointment with the CM for another meeting later in the day.
They also demanded discussions on safety and security of doctors inside hospital premises and including a thorough rundown on how the government wants to spend the Rs 100 crore it has allocated for tightening doctors’ safety in state-run hospitals.
“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.
The doctors demanded immediate notification of the chief secretary-headed task force in medical colleges which was promised at the meeting at Banerjee’s residence on Monday.
They also demanded the student body elections be held and adequate representation of junior doctors in the highest policy-making bodies of those institutions be ensured.
Earlier in the day, the state government appointed Verma as the new city police commissioner, replacing Goyal, a day after Banerjee held a meeting with the agitating junior doctors and agreed to their demands, in a bid to resolve the more than a month-long impasse over the RG Kar hospital incident.
Director of Health Services (DHS) Debashis Halder, Director of Medical Education (DME) Kaustav Nayak and Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Police’s North Division Abhishek Gupta were also removed as promised by Banerjee during the meeting.
Swapan Soren was appointed the interim DHS, while no appointment was announced for the position of the DME.
Banerjee, following a long discussion with the doctors Monday night, had announced the decision to remove Goyal, who had been under fire over handling of the rape and murder of a woman doctor at the RG Kar hospital.
