Kolkata rape, murder: West Bengal doctors ‘partially’ withdraw strike

West Bengal’s striking junior doctors have announced they will “partially” withdraw their cease work agitation and rejoin emergency and essential services at state-run hospitals from tomorrow.
The medics, who have been on “cease work” for the last 41 days to protest the rape and murder of a woman doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9, announced that they would also lift their sit-in outside the state health ministry headquarters in Salt Lake locality of the city.
The doctors, however, said they would not work in the Outpatient Department (OPD), our New Delhi correspondent reports.
“It has been decided that 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. We are withdrawing our cease work partially,” an agitating doctor said in Kolkata yesterday after their general body meeting.
They said since there is a flood situation and it is our duty to support those who stood by us. If they are facing a disaster, we should be there to help them. We will return to our hospitals and also conduct clinics in flood-affected areas.”
The flood in six districts of southern part of West Bengal have left three persons dead and hit over 2.5 lakh people, an official said on yesterday.
“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, adding their fight for justice has not ended.
The doctors pointed out that although they succeeded in getting the Kolkata Commissioner of Police, along with the Director of Medical Education (DME) and the Director of Health Services (DHS), to step down, it “doesn’t mean the agitation is over”.