Protesting doctors in Bengal disappointed after Supreme Court directive to resume work

Supreme Court orders protesting doctors in West Bengal to resume work, causing disappointment among medical professionals

The Supreme Court, while hearing the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder case on Monday (September 9, 2024) telling protesting resident doctors in West Bengal to resume work by 5 p.m. on Tuesday caused widespread disappointment among doctors on strike across medical colleges in the State demanding safety and justice.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said no adverse action will be taken against the resident doctors if they resume work, following assurances from the West Bengal government.

Monday (September 9, 2024) marked one month of the ‘cease work’ protests by junior doctors in government hospitals and medical colleges across West Bengal. A month ago, a female doctor was found raped and murdered in a seminar hall of the R.G. Kar hospital.

After the hearing, many junior doctors said verbal assurances do not make them feel safe enough to resume work at government hospitals.  “We are very disappointed. We were hoping for some developments in the line of justice, and we did not even get that,” said Hassan Mushtaq, a protesting resident doctor at the hospital.

Gauri Seth, a doctor from the Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, said, “We are doctors, we want to work, it is our duty. It is not a happy occasion for us to stay away from our patients who need us.” This has been the sentiment of most protesting doctors across the State who have said that they will get back to work if their demands are met. 

The West Bengal unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) expressed disappointment with protesting doctors being asked to resume work. “We are totally disheartened by the proceedings of the Court and the CBI. No step was taken for a speedy trial to deliver justice to our colleague,” they said in a statement on Monday. “We were even more disheartened to learn that the Hon’ble Supreme Court has asked the junior doctors, who are the forerunners of this protest, to return to work by 5pm tomorrow.”

The organisation said it would stand by the protesting doctors “unconditionally in all their future movements”. “It was also very shocking to note the way junior doctors were portrayed as responsible for few deaths in hospitals [which] is completely false, and in no hospital services is completely hampered due to the movement of the junior doctors,” the unit said.