West Bengal Junior Doctors Protest Over Doctor’s Tragic Death
The West Bengal Junior Doctors Front is protesting the rape and murder of a doctor at a Kolkata hospital. They have requested another meeting with the state Chief Secretary to address unresolved demands.
Following a meeting with the protesting doctors, the West Bengal government accepted some of their demands, including the removal of the police chief of Kolkata and two senior health officials.
In a press release, the Junior Doctors Front stated, “There have been repeated attempts to politicize our cause, false accusations of seeking positions of power rather than justice, and efforts to create divisions among us through emails, audio clips, and to malign our movement. Yesterday, in a long discussion with the Honorable Chief Minister, our five-point demands were discussed, and some of them were partially fulfilled.”
The Junior Doctors Front also criticized the ‘Aparajita Act’ for its restrictions on night shifts for doctors. They argued that these restrictions create a divide between men and women and do not provide genuine security for women.
Following the meeting with the doctors, Dr. Kaustav Nayak and Dr. Debashis Halder were removed from their posts as Director of Medical Education and Director of Health Services, respectively. Additionally, Dr. Suparna Dutta and Dr. Swapan Soren were also removed from their posts.
The body of the 31-year-old doctor was found at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. Since then, thousands of junior doctors in the state have been on strike.
Doubts Revealed
West Bengal -: West Bengal is a state in eastern India. Its capital is Kolkata.
Junior Doctors -: Junior doctors are medical professionals who have completed their medical degree but are still in training or early in their careers.
Protest -: A protest is when people gather to show that they are unhappy about something and want it to change.
Chief Secretary -: The Chief Secretary is a high-ranking official in the state government who helps manage the administration.
Kolkata -: Kolkata is the capital city of West Bengal and one of the largest cities in India.
Police Chief -: The police chief is the head of the police department in a city or town.
Aparajita Act -: The ‘Aparajita Act’ is a law that has rules about when and how people can work, especially at night. Some doctors think it is unfair to women.
Strike -: A strike is when workers stop working to show they are unhappy with their working conditions or other issues.
