Kolkata junior college doctors have been on a hunger strike for 15 days to protest injustice related to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital and demands for workplace security. So far, six fasting doctors have been hospitalized due to deteriorating health. In response, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has urged the students to end their fast.
Junior doctors are demanding that they want to have one on one discussion with CM. Several theatre personalities held a symbolic hunger strike on Saturday in solidarity with protesting doctors. The doctors plan to hold a major rally on Sunday to advocate for their demands, which include the removal of Health Secretary NS Nigam.
Additional demands include a centralized referral system for all state hospitals and medical colleges, a bed vacancy monitoring system, and the establishment of task forces to ensure essential facilities like CCTV, on-call rooms, and washrooms in their workplaces. Before their current fast-unto-death, junior doctors staged a cease work following the rape-murder of their colleague at R G Kar hospital on August 9. They ended the 42-day protest on September 21, after the state government assured them it would consider their demands.