Medicos end strike as CM assures zero tolerance against assault on them

The junior doctors of West Bengal on Monday called off their week-long strike following a “fruitful discussion” with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who accepted all their demands, including stringent action against perpetrators of crimes against on-duty medicos.

“We are satisfied with the talks being held in an extremely cordial atmosphere,” said one of the 31 delegates of doctors from all over Bengal who were escorted by a Government vehicle to the State secretariat Nabanna, where the Chief Minister met them for more than an hour and a half.

“This discussion was very fruitful as both the sides reciprocated to each other’s views in a very positive manner,” the Chief Minister said, adding, she was “grateful to the doctors as they responded to my call for discussion and came all the way to Nabanna. The talks with them were constructive and I hope the doctors will go back and announce their withdrawal of strike as we have accepted all their demands.”

Drawing a loud applause from the doctors’ delegation, the Chief Minister further said, “These are like our children. It is their right to make justified demands and the Government will always stand by them, including in their times of distress, as they are serving the society against all odds.”

Hours later the doctors formally told reporters at Nil Ratan Sarkar Medical College and Hospital (NRSMCH) that they are ending the strike and “will join our work as soon as possible,” adding “we are now convinced that the Chief Minister will take action if any doctor is assaulted in future.”

One of their representatives iterated, “No doctor or nobody from any profession can be assaulted physically or verbally. We assume after our conversation with the Chief Minister that the State will have zero tolerance against assault on doctors. This has to be remembered by the entire population not only of Bengal but the entire country. If there is violence then that will come with consequences. The Chief Minister has told us that there will be stringent legal action against the assaulters.”

In a remarkable display of diplomatic skills, Mamata turned the situation in her favour yielding to the doctors’ demand for a live coverage of her meeting with them. The doctors initially wanted her to visit the epicentre of the movement at the NRS Medical College and Hospital but subsequently conceded to the Chief Minister’s conditions that the meeting be held at Nabanna. The doctors, however, said they would go to the secretariat only if the meeting was aired live on television.

Her stance was a climbdown from her Thursday’s position when she told a large gathering of striking doctors at the SSKM Hospital to join duty in four hours or face consequences. She subsequently held out threats of invoking Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) and cited how the State Governments of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, J&K, and Tamil Nadu had taken stringent actions against striking doctors.

Fresh from an unimpressive show in the parliamentary elections and under pressure from all quarters to stand by the doctors, Mamata invited the doctors to a meeting where she was accompanied among others by Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya, Chief Secretary Malay De, Principal Secretary Health Rajiv Sinha, State DGP Virendra, Kolkata Commissioner of Police Anuj Sharma and others.

Deliberating on the 12-point demand of the doctors the CM said the Government would forward allow only two persons to go inside the Emergency enclosure, tighten security network, make a provision for public relation officials to handle the patients’ party more effectively.

Giving their sides of the story the junior doctors told the Chief Minister, “We are often made to work in an environment of fear. Please ensure exemplary punishment against culprits. We came to you as you are our guardian. We want a solution and end the deadlock and resume services. We believe that you have all good intentions to look into our problem so that we can work peacefully.”

Some doctors also raised the issue of political interference during treatment saying “Often there are political leaders from all the parties who interfere too much in the process of treatment making our jobs difficult,” even as the Chief Minister nodded in agreement.

Junior doctors in West Bengal are on strike since June 11 after two of their colleagues were attacked and seriously injured allegedly by relatives of a patient who died at the NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

The doctors got a spontaneously reply from the other walks of the society including lawyers, intelligentsia, etc.