RG Kar Impasse: Junior Doctors Hold 12-Hour Nationwide Hunger Strike, Key Supreme Court Hearing Today

Kolkata: The 'fast-unto-death' by junior doctors in West Bengal to press for their demands in the wake of the RG Kar hospital incident entered the 11th day on Tuesday, even as another medic was admitted to hospital. As the meeting between agitating doctors and representatives of West Bengal government remained inconclusive, the Indian Medical Association has announced a dawn-to-dusk hunger strike on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is scheduled to review the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s probe into the Kolkata doctor’s death later in the day. The Junior Doctors’ Network of the Indian Medical Association announced that their members will hold a 12-hour hunger strike (6am to 6pm) at all medical colleges and hospitals in the country on Tuesday. IMA urged all office bearers and resident doctors in the country to join the fast. A postgraduate trainee doctor was brutally raped and murdered at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital two months ago, triggering nationwide protests and cease work by doctors. The doctors have been demanding justice for their murdered colleague along with a safer working environment and immediate removal of Health Secretary NS Nigam. IMA national president RV Asokan met the fasting junior doctors to hear their concerns. Asokan called on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to address the situation immediately without "wasting any time". The junior doctors who were sitting on the fast with Aniket Mahato in Kolkata are Snigdha Hazra, Tanaya Panja and Anustup Mukhopadhyay of Kolkata Medical College, Arnab Mukhopadhyay of SSKM Hospital, Pulastha Acharya of NRS Medical College and Hospital, and Sayantani Ghosh Hazra of KPC Medical College. Parichoy Panda from Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan and Alolika Ghorui from Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital joined the protest on Saturday, taking the total number of medics on indefinite fast across the state to 10, including the two at North Bengal Medical College in Siliguri.

Doctors-Govt Talk Fails To Resolves Impasse The crucial meeting between representatives of 12 doctors' associations in West Bengal and Chief Secretary Manoj Pant at Swasthya Bhavan on Monday concluded without any resolution as the state government was reluctant to set a timeline to resolve the deadlock, sources said.The absence of Health Secretary NS Nigam was questioned by the doctors' representatives, who urged Pant to visit the fasting junior medics and speak with them directly. "The meeting was unproductive. We requested the state government to send someone "preferably the highest-ranking official" to engage with the young doctors who are fasting. However, the Chief Secretary indicated that he could not provide any deadlines," Dr Kaushik Chaki, president of the West Bengal Doctors' Forum, told PTI.Government sources said Nigam has gone to New Delhi to attend the Supreme Court hearing on the RG Kar issue scheduled on Tuesday.