Bengal’s illustrious personalities meet protesting doctors, urge Mamata to resolve impasse

Kolkata, June 13: Several prominent personalities of the city have come out in support of the agitating doctors, some of them even urging West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to find a solution to the impasse, which entered the fourth day on Friday.

Filmmaker Aparna Sen, actor Kaushik Sen, musician Debojyoti Mishra, along with senior doctors from diverse fields, visited the agitators at NRS Medical College and Hospital, where an attack by the family members of a patient Monday night left two interns grievously injured and the medical system paralysed in the state. Sen requested the chief minister to meet the striking doctors and listen to their grievances.

"I am a filmmaker. I have so much work at hand, but I felt it was my responsibility to stand by the doctors. My conscience directed me to stand by them. We need to understand they are doing a noble job," she said.

Talking about Banerjee's warning of vacating doctors' hostels, if they fail to resume work, the Padma Shri awardee said, "If these bright students move out of state, will it be a desirable situation? Even if you (Mamata) feel hurt by their comments, you have to remember you are elder to them."

The agitating junior doctors were seen showing video clips of the assault to Sen. The filmmaker told the agitators that actor Parambrata Chatterjee also wanted to reach out to them, but could not make it. "Chatterjee has also urged the government to ensure that no such attacks happen again," she added.

Actor Kaushik Sen urged Banerjee, who also holds the home and health portfolios, to focus more on the healthcare sector. The government should concentrate more on developing the healthcare infrastructure in the state, rather than celebrating numerous festivals, he insisted.

Doctors across the state have called for a strike in protest against the attack on two of their colleagues at NRS Medical College and Hospital in the city by family members of a patient, who died Monday night. One of them received serious head injuries and was currently recuperating at Institute of Neurosciences.

Services have been affected over the past three days in emergency wards, outdoor facilities and pathological units of many state-run medical colleges and hospitals and a number of private medical facilities in the state, leaving patients in the lurch. Banerjee, who visited state-run SSKM Hospital on Thursday, warned the junior doctors of consequences if they do not rejoin work, but the defiant agitators have refused to abide by the order. They asserted that the protests would continue till their demands are fulfilled.