If the Trinamool Congress government of West Bengal was hoping that the Durga Puja celebrations would dilute the intensity of the ongoing doctors’ agitation and the public outrage over the gruesome rape and murder of an on-duty doctor inside the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH), they were in for a rude shock, as the protesting doctors upped the ante, causing further discomfort to an already cornered state government.

On October 5, as the Durga Puja celebrations were about to begin, six junior doctors went on an indefinite hunger strike, followed by mass resignations of senior doctors from across the State; and the non-political protest movement that the State government was hoping to tide over showed that it was far from getting weaker, even in the midst of the Puja revelry.

On September 21, after 42 days of cease-work, when the junior doctors, the resident doctors, and the interns of government hospitals in West Bengal agreed to a partial resumption of work (attending only emergency and essential services), a wary truce appeared to have been arrived at, with the State government accepting most of the conditions put forward by the agitating doctors. The normally intransigent Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was compelled to remove some of her top police and health administrative officials, including the Kolkata Police Commissioner, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (North), the Director of Medical Education, and the Director of Health Services.

Apart from these, the other demands of the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF), which has been spearheading the protest, included punishment for those responsible for the rape and murder inside R.G. Kar, and also for those who allegedly tampered with the evidence; disciplinary action against the principal of RGKMCH, Sandip Ghosh, who is at present in the custody of the CBI; enhanced security for doctors and healthcare workers; and ending the prevailing “threat culture” in hospitals and medical colleges. Their return to partial service was on the condition that the other demands be met at the soonest.

However, within 10 days after resuming work, the doctors returned to complete cease-work, alleging that the State government made no perceptible effort to meet their demands. An assault on doctors and nurses at the College of Medicine & Sagore Dutta Hospital served as the catalyst for the second cease-work. On October 4, the doctors, after a meeting, called off the strike but gave the State government 24 hours to implement their 10-point charter of demands, failing which, they would go on an indefinite hunger strike.

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On the evening of October 5, doctors Tanaya Panja, Snigdha Hazra, Anustup Mukhopadhyay (of Kolkata Medical College and Hospital), Pulastha Acharya (NRS Medical College and Hospital), Arnab Mukhopadhyay (SSKM), and Sayantani Ghosh Hazra (KPC Medical College) began a fast-unto-death. They were later joined by Aniket Mahato of R.G. Kar. On October 7, the Federation of All India Medical Association also announced a nationwide hunger strike from October 9.

Apart from their main demand, that is, justice for the R.G. Kar victim, the doctors’ other demands include the removal of State Health Secretary N.S. Nigam, and holding the Health Department accountable for the administrative failures and corruption; putting in place a centralised referral system in all hospitals and medical institutions; ensuring that there is a digital system to monitor bed vacancies in every medical college and hospital; setting up task forces, with elected junior doctor representatives in all hospitals and medical colleges to ensure that there are CCTVs, on-call rooms, and proper bathroom facilities; and strengthening police presence in hospitals by hiring permanent male and female officers, in the place of civic volunteers.

The demands also include immediately filling up all vacant positions for doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers in hospitals; setting up investigative committees in each medical college to deal with the “threat culture”, and forming a State-level inquiry committee; conducting student council elections in all medical colleges at the soonest, with recognition of RDAs (resident doctors association) and elected student and junior doctor representation in decision-making bodies; and investigating the widespread corruption and disorder within the West Bengal Medical Council and the West Bengal Health Recruitment Board.

Mass resignations

On October 8, the day before the Durga Puja formally commenced, and after three days of continuous hunger strike by the six junior doctors, more than 50 senior doctors of R.G. Kar resigned from their post in solidarity with the junior doctors. The letter addressed to the Director of Medical Education and Ex Officio secretary of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, stated: “We, the undersigned doctors of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, have been striving to provide optimal hospital services. However, the current conditions have made it increasingly challenging the quality of patient care that is essential… We, senior doctors of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital are giving mass resignation as the government seems to be oblivious of the deteriorating condition of the doctors on hunger strike, and if the situation demands, we will also go for individual resignation.”

On October 9, on the day of Shashti—the first day of the Pujas—as the condition of the protesters began to worsen after four days of fasting, more than 70 senior doctors from government colleges across the State resigned en masse. The doctors made it clear that this was a “symbolic resignation” in protest against the State government’s lack of response to the hunger strike of the junior doctors, but they were all prepared to make it formal by individually resigning.

Finally, a meeting between the junior doctors and representatives of the State government took place at Swasthya Bhavan (the headquarters of the State Health Department) in the early hours of the morning of October 10, but no solution came out of that. Stepping out of the meeting, visibly upset junior doctors alleged that there seemed to be no willingness on the part of the government to find a solution.

“They gave us assurances, like they gave us before, and told us to wait till the Pujas are over, and then they would consider our demands, and then sit for talks with us in the third week of October. Right now, every minute counts as our as my friends are weakening with their fasting, and anything can happen. What are they saying? That they will talk about it in the third week of October! They are playing games with the lives of those who are dedicated to saving lives of others,” said a junior doctor, who had attended the meeting.

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Koel Mitra, professor in the Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, Medical College Kolkata, who is one of the doctors who had resigned, told Frontline: “This is a deadlock situation, and we are very worried about our juniors. Already 108 hours have passed (as of October 10 morning), and the effects of fasting have set in; and that is what is scaring us now. The government does not seem to be bothered… Had there been a sensible government, it would have considered it a very aggressive step by the government sector doctors, and would have taken immediate measures to quell the situation; but instead, the government has actually asked us to resign individually, following all the technicalities, which we have agreed to do if the government continues to do nothing.”

Though the doctors have resigned, they have decided to continue to work for the duration of the Durga Puja; and following that, they will take more “drastic steps”. “From October 14, onward, we will take all the drastic steps that we think are necessary. Private sector doctors have already voiced their solidarity with us. Apollo (one of the biggest chains of hospitals) has called in and told us that all elective OTs and OPDs will be closed, and they are only going to run the emergency section. We are looking at something like that in the government sector as well,” said Mitra. She emphasised that the doctors’ demands are not for serving their own interest. “Apart from justice for Abhaya (the name given to the rape and murder victim), the other demands, if you see, are aimed at bettering the health system in the state,” said Mitra.

R.G. Kar shadow over Puja

The heinous crime at R.G. Kar also cast its dark shadow over the festivities. A number of clubs across West Bengal had turned down the State government’s generous grant of Rs.85,000 to organise the Puja, and a few organisers even made the R.G. Kar incident the theme of the Puja pandal. A pandal at Kankurgachhi in central Kolkata named its theme “Lajja”, or “Shame”. The Goddess is depicted covering her face in shame; and at her feet, is not the slayed demon king, but a dead maiden. Behind the Goddess hangs a doctor’s overall and stethoscope. Even the mighty lion on which the Goddess rides, is hanging his head down. At another pandal in Baharampur district, the demon king’s face bears a striking resemblance to Sandip Ghosh, the ex-principal of R.G. Kar, who is currently being investigated by the CBI for corruption and also for trying to cover up the crime.

Though people are thronging to the pandals, the usual exuberance is somewhat missing; as though a feeling of collective guilt pervades over the population, stopping them from enjoying themselves too much.