The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a close aide of former principal of RG Kar Medical College in connection with the financial irregularities at the hospital. The aide, Asish Pandey, was a house staff doctor at RG Kar Hospital and was associated with the Trinamool students’ wing. This takes the total number of arrests made so far to five.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal Junior Doctor’s Front (WBJDF) held a general body meeting after holding discussions with senior doctors of RG Kar Medical College & Hospital, to take a final call on their “cease work” agitation, which they resumed recently. The senior doctors advised their junior colleagues to consider partial withdrawal of their cease work protest.
Senior doctors, professors and faculty members were of the opinion that “since it is a common people’s movement, junior doctors should continue their protests and movement simultaneously, but at the same time partially resume work to serve the poor, who largely depend on state government-run hospitals”.
Subir Roy, a senior doctor at RG Kar Medical College & Hospital, said, “We support the junior doctors’ movement. But medical services have been hampered for the last few days. To provide full-fledged patient services, we have requested the junior doctors to continue the movement.”
Another senior doctor at RG Kar, Tapash Pramanik, said: “We urged them to end the recently started cease work and resume work. They should take forward the movement and protests. We stand with them and will continue the protests together. Justice should be delivered to the victim and we will all seek it together”.
A senior doctor said, “We should continue partial resumption of work. We don’t want the patients to suffer. We cannot continue without their help. However, the doctors, the young boys who have brought the movement forward with great might, let them take it forward.”
