‘Mass resignation not acceptable, submit individually’: West Bengal govt on Kolkata doctors' protest

The West Bengal government said on Saturday that the mass resignation of doctors of state-run hospitals is not valid and they must submitted their resignations individually according to service rules.

Several doctors and faculty members followed their colleagues in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata who had resigned en masse on Tuesday. They sent their mass resignation to the Director of Medical Education, according to Kolkata Medical College Resident Doctors' Association.

“Around 35 doctors of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri also gave mass resignation in support of the junior doctors' protest in Kolkata,” doctors' forum of the medical establishment was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.

Meanwhile, junior medics have announced a fast-unto-death to press for their demands. The protesting doctors are seeking justice for the 31-year-old post-graduate trainee who was raped and murdered at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. They also demand safety of doctors at hospital premises.

'Send resignation personally'

"Unless an employee sends in his/her resignation personally to the employer as per service rules, it is not a resignation letter," Alapan Bandyopadhyay, chief advisor to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said on Saturday.

He clarified that the letters sent by the doctors were merely collective signatures without addressing specific issues. Bandyopadhyay said, “These mass resignations, as they are being described, actually have no legal value...This kind of generic letter has no legal standing...”

"Each page has to be signed by the individual who is tendering such an important paper and the matter has to be seen in terms with service rules...," he added.

Bandyopadhyay emphasised the government's intention to clarify the situation amidst confusion regarding the mass resignations by senior doctors from various government hospitals, including R G Kar Medical College and IPGMER and SSKM Hospital.

‘Mass resignation is symbolic’

Earlier this week, a group of senior doctors at RG Kar Medical College sent a collectively signed "mass resignation" letter in solidarity with their protesting junior colleagues. Subsequently, similar letters were sent by doctors from other state-run hospitals.

Junior doctors at several government hospitals in the state are on a fast-unto-death demanding justice for the rape and murder victim, the resignation of the state’s health secretary, and enhanced workplace security.

The mass resignations are being interpreted as a symbolic gesture of solidarity from senior doctors with their junior counterparts, the government said.

Dr Sunit Hazra, an orthopedic surgeon at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, explained that the resignations were intended to exert pressure on the state government, which has remained silent during the ongoing hunger strike by junior doctors.

"Our resignation is symbolic, aimed at prompting the government to engage in discussions. We do not want the patients to suffer. We are treating them and will continue to do so because it is our duty and we are morally obliged to do that," he said.

The government asserted that healthcare services in state-run hospitals have not been disrupted, as senior doctors continue to work normally. The junior doctors had called off their 'total cease work' at state-run medical colleges and hospitals on October 4.