Kolkata, Oct 9: A group of 75 acclaimed personalities from different walks of life on Wednesday sent an email to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, requesting to fulfil the demands of junior doctors protesting against the gruesome rape and murder of their colleague at R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata.
In the email, signed by acclaimed personalities from different sectors like academics, the cultural world, and medical and legal professions, they have described the ongoing fast-unto-death protests by seven junior doctors in support of their demands as quite justified.
The representatives from the civil society have also pointed out that even after the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor, there had been instances of administrative lackadaisicalness in similar sensitive issues like the alleged rape and murder of a minor girl at Jaynagar in South 24 Parganas district last week.
According to signatories, since all these developments have created a general ambience of insecurity, a section of the junior doctors were forced to go on a hunger strike. According to them, junior doctors’ demand for transparent and safe ambience at medical colleges and hospitals needs urgent attention.
They have also pleaded with the state administration to initiate discussions with the protesting doctors. The e-mail from civil society to the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary was sent when the ongoing hunger strike by junior doctors entered the fifth day. On Wednesday, as many as 50 senior doctors of R.G. Kar tendered their mass resignation expressing solidarity towards the movements by their junior colleagues.
“The decision of our seniors has strengthened our morale to carry out our movements. We heard that some kind of administrative pressure is being built up on them since they tendered their mass resignations. If that is so, we will increase the intensity of our movement,” said a representative of West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF), the umbrella body of junior doctors spearheading the movement on this issue.
The fast-unto-death agitation started on Saturday night by six junior doctors from different medical colleges & hospitals. Doctors’ seventh colleague, one from R.G. Kar, joined the hunger strike on Sunday evening.
IANS