Facilities, arrangements withdrawn at junior doctors’ protest venue in Kolkata

Kolkata: The agency which had supplied various items to facilitate West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Forum (WBJDF) in their sit-in protest in front of the health department headquarters, began taking back their items on Thursday.

When the protesting doctors questioned the employees for removing items like tarpaulins, cam-cots and pedestal fans, they replied that they had been instructed by their authorities to do so since the equipment needed to be supplied at a different function.

The protesting junior doctors apprehend that there could be some pressure on them to do that. However, they admitted that they were not aware of the actual reason behind the decision of the company.

The protesting junior doctors claimed that the development comes as a surprise since no instruction has been given to that company to remove such items. The forum is still determined to continue with their demonstrations till all their demands are met.

The crucial meeting between the WBJDF delegation and Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, which started on Wednesday afternoon and continued till after midnight, failed as the state government refused to make a formal record of the minutes signed by both parties.

Thereafter, the WBJDF delegation announced that they would be continuing their protest in front of the state health department headquarters till the time all their demands in the matter were fulfilled.

After coming out of the meeting the protesting junior doctors claimed that although the state government gave a verbal assurance of fulfilling their unresolved demands, it refused to get it recorded.

As per the direction of the Chief Secretary, WBJDF is supposed to email him a draft of the minutes of the meeting recorded on the forum part by Thursday.

The massive protest is triggered by the rape and murder of a junior doctor at state-run RG Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata last month.