Doctors to start partial services tomorrow following floods

Kolkata: In a major development, the West Bengal Junior Doctors Front announced they will resume emergency services from Saturday in the wake of floods in the state.

After tomorrow' s rally, the doctors will join work, however, their movement will continue.

The doctors s also said many of their demands regarding safety and security have been met by the state government.


In a related development, West Bengal state secretary of DYFI, Minakshi Mukherjee, appeared before the CBI's Salt Lake office on Thursday in connection with the investigation into the RG Kar Hospital rape-murder case. Mukherjee, who was present at the hospital on August 9 after the incident came to light and met the parents of the deceased, said: "I will cooperate with the CBI officers in every way". DYFI is the students' wing of CPI-M.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, in a fresh appeal to the junior doctors asked them to join work, especially because of the flood situation in Bengal.

"Let good sense prevail on the junior doctors and they return to work. As the flood waters recede, there are chances of snake bites and spread of diarrhoea. Temporary medical camps may need to be opened. It is not the time for politics. It is the time to save the lives of the affected people," the CM said in Howrah, where she went to review the flood situation.

The junior doctors' protest entered the 41st day on Thursday .

Attempts to Clear Protest Site
Meanwhile, amid the junior doctors' protests, attempts were made to remove the generators, pedestal fans and bio-toilets by the decorators on Wednesday night from the protest site.

"The first hit was with the generator. In the morning, when we were busy with the inter-college meetings, attempts were made by decorators to remove the tents, generators, bamboo sticks and pedestal fans. Even beds were removed. The volunteers tried to stop this. The local decorators said that they received communication from the upper level," Sayatani Banerjee, a resident doctor, told ET.

"We don't want the protest to end. We are already stressed after the protest for the last 41 days and then this removal has disturbed us," said Banerjee.

"There were lesser people in the morning when the decorators entered. First, the food trucks were halted in the morning and were not allowed to enter the protest site. There were allegations that logistical funding was taken away from the local decorators," doctors present at the protest site said and claimed there was "external pressure".

When asked, Bidhannagar Joint Commissioner of Police BD Chandrasekhar said, "Police is not involved in this kind of matter. We will look into it."

Sandip Ghosh's medical registration cancelled
The West Bengal Medical Council on Thursday cancelled the registration of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital's former principal Sandip Ghosh, an official said.