Kolkata: Leading the protest against the horrific rape and killing of a junior doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in August of this year, the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Forum (WBJDF) declared on Friday that they were dropping the cease-work demonstration in the interest of the general public seeking care at state-run hospitals.
Doctors from West Bengal will go for ‘fast-unto-death agitation’ if state government fails to meet their demands within 24 hours
Nevertheless, junior doctors would begin a fast-unto-death agitation, according to WBJDF leader Debasish Halder, if their demands—which fall under the purview of the West Bengal government—are not met in a day.
According to them, the first of their 10 demands refers to the protracted judicial procedure to ensure justice for the rape and murder of the victim, whose fulfillment depends on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Supreme Court. The fate of the remaining nine demands depends on how serious the state government is about fulfilling them.
“We want the state government to fulfill these remaining nine demands within the next 24 hours, failing which we will be going for fast-unto-death agitation,” he stated.
The other demands include immediate removal of the state health secretary, introduction of centralized referral system and digital bed vacancy monitor, task forces based on each college, with elected representation of junior doctors, increased police protection in hospitals, filling up of vacant posts of doctors, nursing staff and health workers and setting up of inquiry committees must be established in every medical college to investigate those involved in threat syndicates and punish them.
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