Junior doctors on Tuesday night said they will continue their strike till all their demands are met, despite the West Bengal government appointing senior IPS officer Manoj Kumar Verma as the new Kolkata Police chief.
The state also removed two senior health department officials, acceding to the medics’ demands.
The doctors made the announcement following the conclusion of their governing body meeting, which had started around 6.30 pm and ended at around 1 AM early Wednesday.
"Till all our demands are met with, the agitation and cease work will continue. We want fresh talks with the state government," a doctor said at a press conference.
Junior doctors agitating over RG Kar murder early Wednesday said they will continue their sit-in and not join duty, despite the state appointing Manoj Kumar Verma as the new Kolkata Police chief, replacing Vineet Goyal, and removing two senior health department officials, giving in to the medics' earlier demands.
According to a statement issued following the conclusion of their general body meeting, which had started around 6.30 pm and went on till well past midnight, the protestors called the state's administrative measures "only partial victory" of their movement.
The Bengal chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Tuesday wrote to the West Bengal Medical Council urging it to cancel the registration of the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Sandip Ghosh.
Following Ghosh's arrest by the CBI on September 2 in connection with the alleged financial irregularities at the RG Kar Hospital, the WBMC had on September 7 issued a show-cause notice to him asking him to reply within three days on why his medical registration had not been cancelled.
Junior doctors continued their 'cease work' stir in hospitals and sit-in near Swasthya Bhavan, the state health department headquarters, on Wednesday morning demanding justice for the medic raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and removal of Health Secretary.
The sit-in agitation outside the Swasthya Bhavan entered its ninth day while the 'cease work' stir in hospitals continued for the 40th day on Wednesday.
Agitating junior doctors on Wednesday wrote to West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, seeking a discussion on certain “key unresolved issues” like security in hospitals as a pre-condition for lifting their ongoing dharna outside the state health department headquarters.
The doctors highlighted issues of safety and security inside state-run hospital premises and details of the promised special task force headed by the chief secretary as agenda for the proposed meeting.
"The Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose has repeatedly crossed all permissible constitutional limits. He has repeatedly insulted the elected chief minister of Bengal Mamata Banerjee. She is the country's only woman chief minister of a major state. He has called for a social boycott of the elected chief minister. He has called her all kinds of names; he has said she is tainted. He has said that there is violence going on across Bengal, which is nothing but a blatant lie. C V Ananda Bose has no moral right to continue as West Bengal Governor. He has shown repeatedly that he is acting as an agent of the BJP," said TMC MP Sagarika Ghose.
The Enforcement Directorate has seized several documents during the nearly 20-hour-long search operation at the residences and nursing home of TMC MLA Sudipto Roy in connection with its probe into financial irregularities at the RG Kar hospital, an officer said.
Senior Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday urged junior doctors to end their agitation, since most of their demands were accepted by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The medics have been on ‘cease work’ since August 9, when the body of a postgraduate trainee, who was raped and murdered, was found in the seminar room of state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. They were demanding justice for the victim and stronger security measures in medical establishments. (PTI)
The West Bengal government on Wednesday invited the junior doctors agitating over the RG Kar incident for a meeting at the state secretariat at 6.30 pm, responding to their request for a fresh round of talks.
CBI special crime branch arrested Abhijit Mondal in connection with RG Kar rape & murder case on September 14.
Earlier in the day, the Bengal govt had invited the agitating doctors for talks at around 6.30 pm at the state Secretariat.