Mass Resignations by Senior Doctors at RG Kar Medical College in Solidarity with Protesting Resident Doctors
1. Senior Doctors Join Protests in RG Kar Medical College
More than 40 professors and heads of different departments at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH), Kolkata have tendered their mass resignation in support of protesting resident doctors. These are marked with a serious escalation of protests.
This is in contrast to the one instance in which seven junior doctors are sitting on indefinite hunger strike and protesting state-run hospitals’ worsening conditions, demanding an appropriate response from the West Bengal government.
2. Hunger Strike and Protest Across Kolkata
Resident doctors have been on a hunger strike protesting the rape and murder of a female doctor, who was attacked on August 9, 2024, at RGKMCH. The hospital has been in place over 60 hours.
Demands by Resident Doctors
Better security management in the hospitals; more police security; CCTV cameras installed at all places; staff on-call rooms and a centralized system for referring patients.
Protests spread across the State with a number of junior doctors and private practitioners observing 12 to 24-hour fast while on duty as token support.
3. Mass Resignation: A Strategic Decision
It reportedly stated that the mass resignation letter addressed to the Director of Medical Education and Ex Officio Secretary of the Department of Health and Family Welfare expressed frustration amongst the doctors. It elaborated that the government seems to be ignoring the critical condition of the doctors on hunger strike.
One of the faculty members made it very clear that though they would sign the resignation letter, doctors would not leave work right away and would continue to see patients. This is meant to be a strong message to the state government without affecting patient care in the short term.
4. Main Demands of the Resident Doctors
Among the demands made by the protesting doctors include justice in the form of the killer of the murdered female doctor, better security infrastructure in state-run hospitals, and better working conditions.
Junior doctors resumed work yesterday following two previous strikes but escalated the protest with an indefinite hunger strike to force the government to address their 10-point demand list.
Some of the demands include security measures like CCTV surveillance, a more efficient referral system, and permanent police presence within hospitals to ensure that something like the incident never happens again.
5. Unrelenting Pressure on the Government
The mass resignation of the senior doctors puts immense pressure on the government to act immediately.
Other senior faculty members from the other medical colleges of the city, including the Medical College, Kolkata (MCK), have also issued similar warnings and threatened to resign in mass if the government did not sit down for discussions with the junior doctors by tomorrow.
“A lot can be resolved at the discussion table, and if the government does not initiate talks with the junior doctors by tomorrow, we will be compelled to resign in solidarity with our juniors,” said a senior faculty member of MCK.
6. Response and Appeals from the Government
West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant has also appealed to the agitating doctors to call off their hunger strike and resume duties. He claimed that the government is “working towards improving the working environment of hospitals and medical colleges.”
The protests gain more momentum despite the appeal made by the state government. Rallies are being arranged in all over South and Central Kolkata.
7. Protests Amid Durga Puja Festivities
October 8 also saw protests even as Durga Puja was at its peak in Kolkata. Junior and senior doctors had rallies from the Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research and MCK.
Though the rally was not allowed by Kolkata Police as there were puja pandals close, and the procession would have a traffic block, the doctors took out the march without any affecting the traffic movement.
8. Support from Senior Doctors
The senior doctors of RGKMCH are all unanimous in their opinion as to their support for their juniors. They feel that the state government needs to be more responsive and timely in its response towards meeting the demands so that the situation would not worsen any further.
“Our intention is not just to protest but to take the state administration to the discussion table and ensure the voices of junior doctors are heard,” said one of the resigning senior faculty members.
9. Solidarity within Medical Fraternity Increasing
The mass resignation at RGKMCH is just a dawn of what is in store. Doctors in other medical colleges of West Bengal too have threatened such moves if the government fails to pay heed to the protesting doctors.
The presence of seniors at the agitation lends a lot of force to the protest and brings out the possibility of what can be a serious health crisis in the state if the resignations culminate into reality.
10. The Road Ahead: Waiting to see what the Government will do
As protests intensify, the country is waiting for what the state government would do next, and with this, a dialogue with the doctors or not. The director of RGKMCH, Manas Kumar Bandopadhyay, was summoned by the state secretariat in emergency last night following the mass resignation.
With the situation getting tougher and better coordination among all those in the health sector, everyone is eagerly looking at the government response over the coming days.
The mass resignation by the senior doctors at RGKMCH is hence a landmark development in the raging protests raging through West Bengal’s healthcare delivery system. As hunger and protest continues, the pressure is mounting on the state government to redress the grievances of the medical community. The days ahead would let alone tell if the demands of the doctors come along or if resignations keep continuing with a pause in the delivery of health care to the citizenry.
