Vardhan urges doctors to resume work, appeals to WB CM to put 'amicable end' to stir

In the wake of protests by the medical fraternity in support of agitating doctors in Kolkata, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan Friday urged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee not to make this sensitive matter a "prestige issue" and to ensure an "amicable end" to the stir.

In a letter to Banerjee, the Union minister urged her to ensure an "amicable end" to the protests and provide a secure working environment for doctors.

He also appealed to the agitating doctors, particularly in West Bengal, to hold symbolic protests and resume work so that patients do not suffer.

"Strike is certainly not the best way to protest. Patients should not be deprived of immediate and emergency healthcare facilities," the Union health minister said.

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

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

"Despite getting beaten up so badly, doctors have only asked her (Mamata Banerjee) to provide them adequate security and also demanded action against the perpetrators of the violence as per the law," Vardhan said.

"But instead of doing that, she warned them and gave an ultimatum which angered doctors across the country and they proceeded on strike," he said.

"So if the chief minister acts in a sensitive manner in such a grave scenario, patients across the country will not suffer. I plead to the West Bengal chief minister to not make this an issue of prestige," he added.

He urged the chief minister to intervene in resolving the current impasse and take steps to provide a secure working environment for doctors in West Bengal.

The Union minister assured doctors that the government is committed to ensuring their safety and urged them to ensure that essential services are not disrupted.

A delegation of Resident Doctors Association of AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, United Resident and Doctors Association of India (URDA) and Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA), met Vardhan and gave a representation to him on the violence against doctors in West Bengal.

Expressing deep concern, Vardhan said, "I strongly condemn the unruly behaviour and assault on doctors. I will discuss it with the chief minister of Bengal."