A developing crisis in West Bengal’s healthcare system has surfaced as a result of over 75 top doctors at Kalyani JNM Hospital threatening to resign collectively. This is a show of support for junior physicians who have been fasting to the point of death in order to demand justice for a terrible occurrence involving the alleged rape and murder of a junior physician at RG Kar Medical College & Hospital. In an email to the Registrar of West Bengal Health University, the top doctors threatened to resign, expressing their deep unhappiness with the way the state administration handled the crisis as well as their mental tiredness from the continuous chaos.
Two of the main reasons the doctors gave for their choice were “mental devastation” and “inability to work in the current state of mind” in their letter. The deadline for authorities to take significant action is October 14. They intend to proceed with the official submission of their collective resignations if their requests are not granted by that time. Justice for the victim, the dismissal of Health Secretary N. S. Nigam, enhanced workplace safety, and more robust safeguards for healthcare personnel are among their requests.
Physicians from other state-run hospitals have also demonstrated solidarity with this protest by signing resignation letters in unison and sending them to the West Bengal administration. These resignations are a part of a growing demonstration by healthcare professionals who are fed up with what they perceive to be a lack of real attempts by the state government to address the problem. Concerns over the seriousness of the situation have been raised by reports that junior doctors who have been fasting have experienced a decline in their health. The senior doctors’ resignation threat is a demonstration of their support for their less experienced peers and their dissatisfaction with the lack of decisive action from the authorities.
The state government has responded to these events by declaring that mass resignations are not acceptable under current service regulations, which demand that resignations be made on an individual basis. In spite of this, an increasing number of medical experts are threatening to resign from their positions, pointing to a serious problem in West Bengal’s healthcare system that has to be addressed before it gets worse. For the sake of preventing significant interruptions to healthcare services and rebuilding confidence in the medical community, the government must move quickly to address the concerns raised by the protesting doctors.
SOURCE :
ECONOMIC TIMES
