Kolkata rape-murder case, junior doctors will not return to work: said- this is a mass movement; Supreme Court orders to join duty by 5 pm

The strike by junior doctors, protesting the rape-murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, continued for the 31st day on Tuesday.

In the hearing on September 9, the Supreme Court has asked the doctors to return to work before 5 pm today. The court has asked the state government to take action against the doctors if they do not obey the order.

Junior doctors say that they and the victim have not got justice, so they will not return to work. Doctors have also given the government time till 5 pm to accept their demands.

The doctors have said in a statement that the government and the Supreme Court should not forget that this protest is a mass movement. We are extremely disappointed with the hearing.

The junior doctors are demanding that the state health secretary should also be sacked. For this, they will also take out a march from Karunamayee (Salt Lake) to Swasthya Bhavan at 1 pm today.

• The state government wants to stop our protest by any means. They are trying to defame us. They say that people are dying due to the strike of junior doctors. Let us tell you that patient services are running in every medical college of the state. Senior doctors are at work.
• There are 245 government hospitals in the state, out of which only 26 are medical colleges. The number of junior doctors is less than 7,500. Whereas there are 93,000 registered doctors. In such a situation, how can the medical service collapse due to just a few junior doctors going on strike. The government is spreading lies and misleading the Supreme Court.
• The Mamata government has blamed us for the violence that took place during a political event on August 27. We want to remind them that we had said on August 26 that we had nothing to do with that event. We do not support any violent incident and will not do so in the future either.
• Even after 30 days of the incident, the state government has not taken any major step regarding the main demands of the movement. They are trying to put all the blame on the CBI investigation. No action has been taken regarding the negligence of the police or the corruption in the health department. The decision to suspend Sandeep Ghosh seems like a mere whitewash.
• From the first day of the agitation, we have raised demands related to security. We have demanded separate rest rooms and bathrooms for on-duty doctors, adequate security personnel, CCTVs and female security personnel for women. Just increasing police presence and separate rooms for doctors will not ensure security.
• From the Chief Minister’s press statement, we came to know that the Police Commissioner had offered to resign. He himself has admitted negligence in the investigation, so why was his resignation not accepted? Is the job of the police only to control the crowd during festivals? Will such a police force be able to protect women?

• On September 9, the Supreme Court had a hearing on the doctors’ strike that was going on after the Kolkata rape-murder case. The arguments of the state government in the court and the court’s order…

  State government’s argument: 23 people lost their lives due to doctors going on strike. 6 lakh people did not get treatment. Resident doctors are not coming to OPD. Angiography of more than 1500 patients was not done. Doctors should be asked to go back to work.

  Supreme Court order: We direct that if the junior doctors do not return to work by 5 pm on September 10, we cannot stop the state government from taking disciplinary action against them. If they return to work, no action will be taken against them as we are aware of the matter.

• Doctors said Mamata’s statement is inhuman. The doctors on strike condemned Mamata Banerjee’s statement. They said – Calling to celebrate on the body of a trainee doctor is an insult. Celebrating before getting justice is inhuman. The Chief Minister should immediately withdraw this statement.

  Parents said- We lost our daughter, now there is darkness in our lives. On the statement of celebrating the festival, the mother of the trainee doctor said- I find this inhuman because I am the mother of a girl. I have lost my daughter. Durga Puja was celebrated in my house too. But, now there is darkness in our lives.