The stalemate condition at the state-run R G Kar Medical College Hospital is still going on even on the 16th day today.

The agitating medical students and a large number of junior doctors including postgraduate trainees (PGTs) of the hospital threatened to continue their relay hunger strike till the health department headed by the chief minister Mamata Banerjee meets up their demands including professor Dr Sandip Ghosh, principal of the college.

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The agitators today said that the health department was silent to their demands but proactive in forcing them to withdraw the strike. They also demanded that the health secretary N S Nigam must have to sit on a meeting with them inside the college campus to solve the crisis.

Today, Nigam held a meeting with the director of medical education (DME) Dr Debashis Bhattacharya, Dr Ghosh and heads of around 38 departments of the teaching hospital at Swasthya Bhaban today and asked the officials to take strong action against the agitators if the latter does not withdraw the strike as soon as possible.

The health department has also asked the college authorities to prepare a list of junior doctors who are not joining work. The agitating would-be doctors are protesting against the college authorities’ reluctance to form two separate
councils for students and hostels respectively through relay hunger strike programme in front of the office of the principal demanding his resignation for the past 16 days.

Normal healthcare services in different departments starting from emergency, trauma care, maternity, neurology etc are badly affected because of the relay hunger strike sponsored by medical students and a section of PGT in the hospital. Several patients are suffering due to the non-availability of junior doctors.

The health department may take legal action against the agitating PGTs. It may also withhold the medical registrations of medical students mainly interns if they do not resume work as soon as possible.