Junior docs defy SC directive to resume work; reject Mamata's call for talks

To continue strike till 5-point agenda is met among other demands

- PRADIP CHATTERJEE

Junior doctors in Bengal defied a Supreme Court directive that urged them to resume work by 5 pm on Tuesday. They also refused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's invitation for talks at Nabanna, to resolve the impasse over the RG Kar issue.

Instead, they vowed to continue their protest until their demands a few of which were added recently were met, including the removal of the Kolkata Police Commissioner and several top state Health department officials and justice for the rape and murder victim from RG Kar Hospital.

The state government had told the Supreme Court on Monday that at least 23 patients have died in various state-run hospitals due to the junior doctors' strike. The Chief Secretary had also appealed to the agitating doctors to resume work.

In the "clean up Swasthya Bhavan" march earlier in the day, the stirring doctors demanded the resignations of the Health Secretary, Director of Health Education (DHE), and Director of Health Services (DHS), besides pressing for marching orders of Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal as part of their five-point demand charter.

Till the report was filed, they continued their sit-in demonstration.

Earlier in the evening, taking exception to the “language of an e-mail”, the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF) which represents the agitating junior doctors, rejected the Chief Minister’s invitation for talks at the state secretariat to resolve the impasse.