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RG Kar case: Doctors’ hunger strike enters 5th day as impasse over demands continue
The junior doctors began the fast unto death on Saturday evening at the Dorina Crossing in Dharmatala in the heart of Kolkata
The indefinite hunger strike by junior doctors from various government-run hospitals, protesting the August 9 rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, entered its fifth day on Thursday amid Durga Puja festivities across the state.
The health of at least seven doctors on hunger strike in Kolkata deteriorated after which the police urged them to call off the agitation in wake of the health.
Also Read: CBI files charge sheet against prime accused Sanjay Roy in RG Kar rape-murder case
The development comes a day after a three-hour meeting between the protesting junior doctors and top state officials headed by chief secretary Manoj Pant failed to reach a consensus on Wednesday night.
“One cannot expect a meeting to produce all solutions, but we have made some progress by holding the talks,’ Pant said after the meeting.
“The Kolkata police gave us a letter today, saying we should end the hunger strike. We cannot be dissuaded. If the government feels that we will end our agitation before our demands are met then it has made a big mistake,” Debasish Haldar, one of the leaders of the agitation said on Thursday afternoon.
The junior doctors have demanded several reforms in the healthcare and health education system in the aftermath of the RG Kar Hospital crime that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing on the orders of the Calcutta high court.
The federal agency on Monday submitted its first chargesheet against Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer, tagging him as the sole perpetrator of the crime.
Expressing solidarity with those on hunger strike since October 5, consultant physicians from the city’s Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences announced on Thursday that they will not attend non-emergency services till October 14.
“This could be extended further depending on the course and progress of the movement,” the doctors said in a statement.
