- By Anushka Vats
- Tue, 10 Sep 2024 07:55 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the protesting junior doctors who are on strike following the rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, to resume duties by 5 PM on Tuesday. However, hours after the court's order, the junior doctors said they would continue their ‘cease work' to demand justice for the RG Kar hospital medic. Their demand includes the resignation of the state's health secretary and director of health education (DHE).
"Our demands are unfulfilled and justice is not meted out to the victim. We will continue our agitation as well as the ‘cease work'. We want the health secretary and DHE to resign. Tomorrow (Tuesday) noon, we will hold a rally to the Swasthya Bhavan," one of the protesting doctors told PTI after their governing body meeting here.
The rape and murder of the RG Kar doctor on August 9 triggered a massive nationwide protest. The body of the victim was found in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical college with injury marks. She was allegedly raped and killed while on duty. The junior doctors have been observing ‘cease work' at state-run hospitals for nearly a month now.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) Bengal expressed its deep disappointment on Monday with the Supreme Court's directive.
"We were expecting a positive outcome, keeping in mind the brutality of the offence. However, we are totally disheartened by the proceedings of the court and the CBI," the IMA Bengal said in a release.
"No step was taken for a speedy trial to deliver justice to our colleague. We were even more disheartened to learn that the Supreme Court has asked the junior doctors who are the forerunners of this protest to return to work by 5 pm tomorrow. It was also very shocking to note the way the junior doctors were portrayed as responsible for a few deaths in the hospitals is false and in no hospital, the service is completely hampered due to the movement of the junior doctors," it said and showed solidarity with the junior doctors who are on strike.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the striking medics to resume their to avoid adverse action by the state government. The order by the apex court comes after the West Bengal government assured it that no action, including punitive transfers, shall be taken against the protesting doctors if they resume work.
The apex court also reminded that no action should be taken against doctors once they return to work by tomorrow 5 PM. However, it noted that if they fail to do so, the court will not be able to restrain the state government, and further absence from work might lead to disciplinary action against them.