Mamata threatens Bengal doctors on strike, says 'to end protest or get thrown out'

Kolkata, June 13: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday threatened doctors who were on strike against an attack on junior doctors at the NRS Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

The CM has directed all agitating doctors to resume work in four hours or be ready to face action, reports suggested.

Mamata Banerjee visited the state-run Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial (SSKM) Hospital where the junior doctors are holding a strike since the last two days in protest of the attack on doctors in another city hospital.

The strike by the junior doctors entered the third day, even as those from other government hospitals joined the stir. They locked the hospital gates and sat on a dharna in protest against the attack.

The Doctors' Forum on Tuesday had proposed to cease work at the outpatient departments (OPDs) of all state-run hospitals in West Bengal. The emergency services, however, remained active at all hospitals.

Protest erupted at the state-run NRS Hospital on Tuesday morning bringing the regular services to a standstill, after a junior doctor was allegedly beaten up by the kin of a 75-year-old patient who died there late on Monday night. The family members of the deceased patient alleged medical negligence.

An intern named Paribaha Mukherjee sustained serious skull injury in the attack and has been admitted in the intensive care unit of the Institute of Neurosciences in Kolkata's Park Circus area.

Tension spilled onto other state-run hospitals in the city and districts, including the Calcutta Medical College and R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital.

Meanwhile, the BJP accused the Trinamool Congress of being directly involved in Monday's violence at the hospital. "A junior doctor was beaten so badly that he is in coma. The Trinamool Congress played a leading role in the violence," BJP leader Mukul Roy said.