BREAKING | Kolkata rape & murder horror: Doctors call off month-long strike, to return to work on Saturday

After over 40 days of intense protests, junior doctors in Kolkata have decided to call off their strike, which was sparked by outrage over the tragic rape and murder of a colleague at RG Kar Medical College. The decision was reached following a General Body meeting held on Thursday. The doctors will return to work on Saturday, September 21, resuming emergency services and ending the strike that severely impacted healthcare across the city.

The prolonged agitation, which drew national attention, centered on demands for greater safety measures and government accountability following the horrific incident at the state-run hospital. Despite several rounds of negotiations with the West Bengal government, including a meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee earlier in the week, the situation remained unresolved until the latest discussions.

The junior doctors had been staging a sit-in protest outside the state health department headquarters at Swasthya Bhawan, where they remained firm in their demands for tangible government actions to improve safety and security in hospitals.

However, their protest site became a point of contention after they accused the police of pressuring decorators to remove tents, bamboo shafts, and pedestal fans that had been voluntarily donated to support the sit-in. The decorators claimed they needed the items for upcoming Durga Puja marquees, but the doctors alleged that this was a result of police coercion – a claim denied by police officials.

Earlier attempts at negotiations had proven inconclusive. On Wednesday, the second round of talks between the protesting doctors and the West Bengal government ended without a breakthrough. The doctors expressed frustration over the lack of written assurances, stating that while the government had agreed to several of their demands verbally, they were not given the official minutes of the meeting, which they had repeatedly requested.

The doctors had been demanding comprehensive safety measures, including the deployment of female police officers for night patrols, the installation of panic buttons, and the creation of helplines for immediate intervention in cases of emergency. While the government had agreed to form a task force on safety and security, the junior doctors insisted on broader representation from all medical colleges.

The minutes of the meeting indicated that there were also discussions about investigating the Principal Health Secretary for alleged misconduct and fostering a "health syndicate" over the past several years.

Despite these unresolved issues, the doctors stated that they would return to work, emphasizing that they had taken this decision in the interest of public health, which had been severely affected during the 40-day strike. They added that they would continue to monitor the government’s actions to ensure the promised reforms are implemented.