‘Better communication, compassionate approach' need of the hour: Harsh Vardhan urges Banerjee

New Delhi, June 14: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday wrote to Mamata Banerjee over the doctors'strike in the state and urged the West Bengal Chief Minister to personally intervene to resolve the impasse.

He further called for "better communication and compassionate approach' to resolve to problems faced by the doctors.

"It is a matter of concern that the agitation by doctors in West Bengal is not heading towards a resolution, but seems to be getting aggravated. Better communication with doctors and a compassionate approach approach to take care of the genuine problems being faced by them in day to day functioning would definately be helpful in tiding over the crisis which has been created," he wrote.

Here is the full letter of Harsh Vardhan's letter to Mamata Banerjee:

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan writes to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on ongoing doctors' strike in the state, asking her to 'personally intervene to resolve the current impasse.' pic.twitter.com/nW2NpPfstF

— ANI (@ANI) June 14, 2019

The government is staring at a massive problem as the strike by doctors is not only spreading to different cities of the country, but the medical professionals are also resigning in protest.

The doctors are demanding security as some of their colleagues were attacked last week in Kolkata by family members of a patient who passed away. The strike may worsen as today a second year MBBS student at Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital sustained head injury after miscreants pelted bricks on agitating doctors. The agitation started in Kolkata. By Thursday, medical professionals in several government-run hospitals in several cities held protests to express solidarity with their counterparts in Kolkata.

Earlier today, doctors had threatened mass resignation. As per latest reports, total 119 doctors of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, Darjeeling, have resigned over violence against doctors in the state.

Junior doctors in West Bengal are on a strike since Tuesday after a doctor was attacked and seriously injured allegedly by relatives of a patient who died at NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

As if the violence against the doctors was not enough, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee added fuel to the fire by losing her cool and warned them. Banerjee gave doctors an ultimatum and threatened that they would be thrown out of their hostels if they don't get back to work.

This worsened the matters and Doctors in major metro cities, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai, joined protest in solidarity with their counterparts in Kolkata. Doctors across the country expressed their anger towards the way Banerjee handled a sensitive issue.