Pressure mounts on West Bengal junior doctors to call off full cease work ahead of Durga Puja

Pressure mounts on West Bengal resident doctors to end strike amid ongoing protests, urging partial cease work for Durga Puja.

Amid ongoing protests against the doctor’s rape and murder in August, pressure is mounting on West Bengal’s protesting resident doctors, with a section of senior doctors and prominent citizens urging them to call off their full cease work ahead of Durga Puja festivities.

On Tuesday, October 1, junior doctors across State-run medical colleges and hospitals announced a fresh strike in protest against the State government’s alleged non-fulfilment of promised safety and security measures, 10 days after withdrawing their initial 42-day-long strike.

On Thursday afternoon (October 3, 2024), agitating junior doctors organised a large-scale meeting with senior doctors and faculty members of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH) to discuss a possible way forward in the light of continuing protests.

“We are meeting senior doctors and our faculty members today to discuss what they think about the cease work. After all, they have been there with us from the very beginning of the movement,” said Kinjal Nanda, a protesting junior doctor from RGKMCH.

Meanwhile, a faculty member who had to exit the meeting midway to attend to patients said she was in favour of protests continuing in the form of partial cease work.

“Classes should continue, protests should also continue, but with partial cease work… Many poor people come to the hospital for treatment. We won’t be able to manage the patient load without our junior doctors,” said Maitreyi Bandopadhyay, head of the microbiology department at RGKMCH. 

Another faculty member of RGKMCH echoed similar sentiments, saying while they support the junior doctors’ agitation, they should resume duty to some capacity to ensure hospital services remain undisrupted.