KOLKATA: After the RG Kar victim rape and murder of a post graduate trainee doctor on August 9 last year Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met with the junior doctors on Monday and announced an increase in stipend for interns, house-staffs and post-doctoral trainee doctors.
Addressing the program ‘Chikitsar Arek Naam Seva’ which was attended by the top brass of the state administration, Banerjee said, “The salaries of interns, house staff, post-graduate trainees and post-doctoral trainees are being raised by Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 for senior doctors. The suspension of the junior doctors at the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital is also being withdrawn,” Mamata said.
Following the rape and murder at RG Kar Medical College, doctors protested for days demanding better security. They accused a section of staff and doctors linked to Trinamool of controlling state-run hospitals and fostering a threat culture.
The junior doctors at the Midnapore Medical College and Hospital were suspended following the death of expecting mothers who were allegedly administered faulty saline.
“People reach out to you when they are the most vulnerable. Even though all patients cannot be saved, good behaviour and a few words of sympathy make them happy,” Mamata said in her speech.
“The doctors’ community should be one and rise above politics. Your colour is not of politics but that of humanity and service.”
In her address Mamata said that since coming to power in 2011 her government had taken giant steps to improve the standard of service in public health care.
“The Left Front when it was in power did not pay attention to the health sector,” she declared. “The health department was run by a minister of state. After becoming the chief minister, I realised the health department needed a full-time minister and kept the portfolio with myself.”
However, the Left government did have full-time health ministers, like Prasanta Sur and Surjya Kanta Mishra.
“I had seen that the gates of SSKM Hospital and Sambhunath Pandit Hospital were small. The first thing I did was to widen the gates for the patients to have easy access,” Mamata said.
“We have increased the strength of doctors by 14,000, nursing staff by 25,000 and paramedics by 5,000. Patients from the adjoining states as well as northeastern states are now coming to Bengal for treatment.”
She said she was hurt when a lawyer in the Supreme Court commented that even cotton rolls are not available in Bengal hospitals.
The chief minister also said the rules for government hospital doctors for private practice were being relaxed – now government doctors can have their private practice within a 30km radius for their hospital, up from 20km before.
“My only request to you is that you must attend to your duty at the government hospitals for eight hours. Please don’t leave deliveries and cardiac surgeries in the hands of the junior doctors,” the chief minister said.
She also announced Rs 2 crore for cultural activities at the state-run health facilities.
“Five hostels are being constructed for women doctors at Rs. 150 crore. There are several other hostels which need repair. We will take it up in phases,” Mamata said.
“For security-related issues I will ask Rajiv [acting director general of police Rajiv Kumar] and Manoj [Verma, Kolkata police commissioner] to take the help of ex-servicemen. The patrol vans should be more vigilant.”
Two doctors’ bodies, the Joint Platform for Doctors and the West Bengal Junior Doctors Front, have been at the forefront of the movement against the Mamata Banerjee government following the RG Kar horror.
Last month, a Kolkata court had served the life sentence to the sole accused in the case, Sanjay Roy.
“Our movement is not for increasing salaries and festival budgets,” Punyabrata Gun, co-convenor of the Joint Platform of Doctors, added. “We want to remove the ills prevailing in the healthcare system. Unless we achieve that our movement will continue.”
However BJP leader Dilip Ghosh alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was not taking any steps to address the concerns of the junior doctors.
Dilip Ghosh said, "Regarding the mess in the health department, those who are culprits are never punished. If there are any problems, a few doctors are suspended. The doctors who are causing irregularities are safe because they are attached to the party. Junior doctors keep protesting because of their behaviour towards them. They are not heard and their problems are not addressed."