Later today, June 18, the Supreme Court will hear a plea from doctors in governmental hospitals demanding safety in the workplace. Doctors began striking in Bengal when one of them sustained a skull fracture in a mob fight between hospital staff and a patients family. The strikes have spread across India, raising serious questions about not only poor security facilities in government hospitals but also rampant lawlessness in Bengal.
The Supreme Court will hear a petition to the home and health ministries that asks for more security personnel at government hospitals and that the Bengal government take action against those who assaulted NRS doctors.
The Indian Medical Association [IMA] has supported the agitation of the doctors and has directed its members of all its state branches to stage protests and wear black badges on Friday. Many senior doctors have resigned from their government posts in order to express solidarity with the agitating doctors, said the plea, according to The Print.
The IMA called for a three-day national protest and boycott of work on Monday, June 17.
In the past few days that the strikes have been on, outpatient healthcare and non-essential services took a hit. After the IMAs call for a boycott, doctors, dentists, surgeons, and medical students have all stayed away from work barring those who work in emergency services.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee agreed to meet the striking doctors today at 3 pm. At this meeting, the doctors will present their list of demands to the government and ask for a central law guaranteeing their safety to be enacted.
They are also demanding an unconditional apology from CM Banerjee who said that the strikes were a bJP conspiracy. The doctors have asked or a judicial inquiry into lax policemen, dismissal of all false cases against the striking students and doctors, and improved infrastructure.
The discussion will focus on all your demands. I also confirm that discussing and resolutions taken in this meeting shall be recorded, and duly communicated to you, said the state government.
Bengal doctors strike after one is attacked by mob
On June 10, Pariboho Mukerjee, a 24-year-old junior doctor at Nil Ratan Sircar (NRS) Medical College and Hospital, was assaulted when tensions escalated between the medical staff and a deceased patients family.
When 75-year-old Mohammed Shahid died, his family members alleged that the doctors were not only negligent but also delayed in delivering the body to them.
The accusations escalated into a brawl that hundreds of others got involved in. In the confusion and hostility, Mukerjee was injured by a brick hurled at his head.
He was admitted to the Indian Institute of Neurosciences in Kolkata where he was treated for a depressed skull fracture. He is now stable.
Mukerjees injury sparked widespread strikes across Bengal. Doctors from government hospitals stood in solidarity with the NRS staff and refused to work until the Bengal government guaranteed their safety.
Outpatient facilities have were shut for almost 12 hours a day for the past few days. Emergency services are still available, but the hospital staff is short staffed.
Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee to meet doctors at 3pm
Scores of doctors from medical colleges and hospitals across the state have risen up in protest. Doctors and students in R G Kar Hospital, SSKM Hospital, and colleges in Midnapore, North Bengal, Murshidabad and Bankura have been protesting.
Doctors on duty have also been adorning bandages and helmets on their rounds as a sign of protest.
The Association of Resident Doctors of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) protested in New Delhi. However, they have now decided not to participate in the nation-wide strike.
AIIMS Delhi said that it is continuing patient care services in the hope that the Bengal doctors demands are met. In case the issues are not resolved, AIIMS Delhi will be forced to resort to escalation of the protest, it said.
We are hereby hopeful that the West Bengal administration considers demands of striking doctors and resolves the matter amicably at the earliest in the best interest of the people, said AIIMS Delhi.
Safdarjung Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, RML Hospital will still strike.
The doctors protested against a closed-door meeting and insisted that the two sides meet with media presence. However, the government initially said that there were legal issues to a televised meeting.
We have explained to them that given the issues involved, mainly legal, administrative and security-related, it is impossible for the state government to agree to their demand for an open-door meeting in presence of the media. The CM is sworn to an oath of secrecy in some such matters, said a state official.
The doctors are free to speak to the media after the meeting, said the official.
Now, the Hindustan Times is reporting that CM Banerjee has agreed for the meeting to be televised live. She will meet two representatives from each medical college.
Rhea Arora is a Staff Writer at Qrius