Ending the logjam persisting for the last 41 days, agitating junior doctors announced the withdrawal of their sit-in before Swasthya Bhawan on Friday and partial resumption of duties entailing the attending essential services in state-run hospitals from Saturday.
The medics also announced setting up of Abhaya medical camps, in memory of the brutally murdered RG Kar trainee doctor, at flood-affected regions of the state from Friday.
To mark the withdrawal of their 10-day dharna before Swasthya Bhawan, the stirring doctors gave a call to march to the CBI office at the CGO Complex in Salt Lake at 3 pm on Friday seeking justice for the RG Kar victim and a quick wrap up of investigations.
"Given the flood situation in West Bengal and the state government agreeing to certain demands of ours, we will be rejoining emergency and essential services partially from Saturday," an agitating doctor said on Thursday after their general body meeting.
The protesting doctors said they would not work in the Outpatient Department (OPD) but would partially work in emergency and essential services.
"We will wait for a week for the West Bengal government to implement all its promises and if unfulfilled, we will resume 'cease work'," the doctors said.
The announcements came shortly after Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, following up on issues discussed in Wednesday's meeting between the agitating junior doctors and the state task force, issued a list of directives on the safety, security and conducive environment for healthcare professionals, saying those
orders need to be implemented immediately.
"The directives issued today reflects partial acceptance of our demands in terms of ensuring safety and security at campuses. We consider that a limited victory given that previously the state also acceded to our demands of removing the Kolkata police commissioner and senior health department officials.
"The arrests of ex-RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh and Tala PS OC were also shots in the arm of our movement. We will, hence, end our stir here and return to essential services. But our fight is far from over," said Aniket Mahato, one of the agitating doctors.
It is the doctors' humane responsibility to aid people in distress in the inundated regions of the state given the threatening flood situation, he added.
"In its directive, the government has carefully avoided addressing the issue of persisting threat culture in medical colleges and ways and means to restore democratic atmosphere in campuses. There is no effective direction to end the climate of fear among junior doctors and there is no assurance that a repeat of the RG Kar incident will never take place in future," added Debasish Halder, another junior medic.
Halder confirmed that doctors would continue with their demonstrations at their respective colleges.
"We will draw up a Standard Operating Procedure detailing the nature of essential services which junior doctors would attend, This SOP would vary from hospital to hospital depending on the nature of emergencies they cater to," he said.
The medics clarified their intentions to continue hitting the streets and fighting it out at the Supreme Court "till justice for Abhaya is received".
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