Junior doctors have officially informed Chief Secretary Manoj Pant via email that they will not end their hunger strike before meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday. Despite the Chief Secretary’s condition for calling off the hunger strike ahead of the meeting, the doctors have made it clear that they will decide whether to end the strike only after the discussion with the CM.
The junior doctors had already confirmed their attendance at Monday’s meeting. However, internal discussions regarding who would represent them and whether to agree to the conditions imposed by the government continued through Saturday night and into Sunday morning. After a General Body meeting held at NRS Medical College on Sunday, the decision was conveyed to the Chief Secretary via email.
Debashis Haldar, one of the protesting junior doctors, said after the Pan General Body meeting, “It has been 14 days since the hunger strike started, and although the Chief Secretary and Home Secretary visited the strike site, the conversation with the Chief Minister over the phone left us disappointed. We felt that despite 14 days of protest, the CM might not be fully aware of our 10-point demands or hasn’t been properly briefed.” He further added, “We have emailed the Chief Secretary outlining our demands and will elaborate if needed during Monday’s meeting.”
The junior doctors also expressed their frustration over accusations that they had failed to attend prior meetings on time. “We condemn the mindset that seeks to blame us for not joining earlier. We are willing to attend the meeting without any preconditions,” said another doctor, adding, “We hope for a constructive dialogue, but we will not call off the hunger strike unless a resolution is reached.”
On Saturday, the Chief Secretary visited the hunger strike site at Dharmatala along with high-ranking officials, including Home Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and DC Central Indira Mukherjee. They facilitated a phone conversation between the CM and the protesting doctors, during which Banerjee listened to each of the doctors’ 10 demands and responded accordingly. The junior doctors, however, have been pushing for a face-to-face meeting with the Chief Minister, which she scheduled for Monday afternoon.
The Chief Secretary later notified the doctors via email that the meeting would take place at Nabanna on Monday at 5 PM. The Chief Minister would allot 45 minutes for the discussion, and the doctors were requested to send a delegation of 10 representatives by 4:30 PM, with their names sent via email beforehand.
However, the government’s condition for the meeting—that the hunger strike must be called off beforehand—was rejected by the junior doctors. In response, the doctors informed the administration that they would attend the meeting but would not end the hunger strike until after discussions with the Chief Minister. They indicated that a decision regarding the strike would be made based on the outcome of the meeting.
If no resolution is reached on Monday, the doctors have warned that they will proceed with their planned protests on Tuesday, and the intensity of the movement may escalate further.