Kolkata doctor murder case: Medics send draft of meeting's key points to govt, await response

KOLKATA: Agitating junior doctors on Thursday submitted a draft of the key points from their talks with the West Bengal government to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant and are now awaiting the state's response to their proposals. The e-mail, detailing the points which were discussed and agreed upon by the two sides and also those which weren’t, was shot off as per the state’s requirement based on which the government is expected to issue directives, the doctors said.

The talks between junior doctors and officials of the state government on Wednesday night failed to resolve the impasse between the two sides. Medics have struck work for the past 40 days since the brutal torture and killing of a post graduate trainee doctor at RG Kar hospital came to light on August 9. Doctors alleged that the state refused to provide written minutes of the meeting and announced they will continue with their agitation and 'cease work' movement till the government issues written directives on safety and security concerns of doctors in state-run hospitals as agreed in the meeting.

"While the talks went smoothly, the government refused to hand over signed and written minutes of the issues which were discussed. We are feeling let down and disappointed with the government's attitude," Dr Aniket Mahato, one of the agitating doctors, said after coming out of the meeting. The second round of meeting between the state-level public healthcare task force headed by Pant and a delegation of 30 junior doctors was held at the state secretariat Nabanna. The first round was held in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence on Monday. The protesting doctors are continuing with their sit-in demonstration before Swasthya Bhawan, the headquarters of the state health department in Salt Lake, which is now on its 10th day.

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Among the disagreements at the last round of talks, the state reportedly refused to accept the doctors' demand to initiate a departmental inquiry against health secretary N S Nigam in the wake of the alleged crime at R G Kar hospital. The state capital has been rocked with massive protests ever since the alleged rape and murder of the trainee doctor and subsequent allegations of widespread corruption at government healthcare facilities and arm-twisting of students and trainee doctors, leading to demands for an action against the health secretary.

The protesting doctors said they highlighted issues of their safety inside state-run hospital premises, and details of formulation and functions of the promised task force at the meeting. The medics raised matters concerning transparency in referral systems, bed allocation to patients, recruitment of healthcare workers, and an end to the prevailing "threat culture" on campuses. Representation of students in unions, hostels and decision-making bodies of hospitals, setting up of college-level task forces, and holding of college council and resident doctors' association elections, were also raised in the meeting.

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The doctors said their demands were "inextricably linked" to the concern that a gruesome crime like the one that took place at RG Kar hospital never gets repeated. "The government agreed that most of our demands were just and needed immediate implementation. But we were disappointed at the end of the talks when the chief secretary refused to give us a signed minutes of the meeting," a doctor said.

An unsigned minutes of the meeting released by the Bengal government after the meeting stated that the junior doctors demanded the formation of an inquiry committee against the Principal Health Secretary for alleged misconduct over the past 4-5 years, that include fostering a health syndicate. The Chief Secretary emphasised a comprehensive inquiry into the state's health system is needed.

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The minutes revealed that the government requested that medics send 4-5 representatives to the state task force on safety and security, but the doctors proposed a broader representation from all medical colleges. "Both parties agreed to implement a central directive for deploying women police officers for night patrols, installing panic buttons by department, and establishing helplines for prompt intervention," the minutes read. Banerjee has been asking the medics to withdraw their 'cease work,' which has been continuing for the since August 9 – when the body of the trainee doctor was found at the hospital.

Giving in to the medics' demands, Banerjee had earlier transferred Kolkata police chief Vineet Goyal and appointed Manoj Kumar Verma in his place, while also removing two senior health department officials. Meanwhile, senior Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday urged the junior doctors to end their agitation and resume work. "As a gesture of goodwill, the doctors should consider calling off the strike and work collaboratively with the West Bengal government to serve the needs of the people, and expedite the implementation of the task force's initiatives to ensure these changes are promptly executed," Banerjee said in a post on X.