The agitation at Calcutta Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) continued for the ninth day on Thursday while the acting principal, Dr Ramanuja Sinha, expressed his desire to resign from his post.
Dr Sinha held another meeting on Thursday with the student representatives, after which he expressed his desire to quit.
According to the students, he asked them to withdraw the strike on the excuse of the Trinamul Congress’s Martyrs Day rally when the city would be flooded with outsiders and the situation would likely be unmanageable for him. The students, however, remained firm.
Meanwhile, CPI-M leader Sujan Chakraborty visited the campus in solidarity with the students.
On the campus, the agitation became more intense after 15 more former students joined the hunger strike. Six students who are currently studying in the institute have been on hunger strike for more than a week.
Although the CMCH authorities claimed they are monitoring the students’ health on a regular basis, the agitators have refused to accept any medical aid from the management.
“The management is trying to create panic among us by giving false medical reports,” claimed a third year student.
“Recently, they gave wrong report to one of our fellows saying that his potassium level was critically low. But being medical students, we know that for such dip in the potassium level, there are different symptoms and the patient will have to undergo serious treatment like dialysis. Hence we have decided to take medical aid for our fellows from our postgraduate seniors,” he added.
The agitation at CMCH had started on 27 June when the senior students demanded hostel facilities while others complained against the poor condition of their allotted accommodation.
The principal, Dr Ucchal K Bhadra, fell ill and was tested for cardiac problems on Tuesday. But the students alleged that Dr Bhadra faked the illness in a bid to escape the situation.