WB Junior Doctors protest new senior resident posting rules

The association stated that its broader movement began after the death of a colleague who was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty at a government hospital. According to WBJDF, that agitation exposed the deteriorating condition of the healthcare system as well as widespread corruption. As part of their 2024 protest activities, the association also launched a campaign to clean hospital premises, which it said highlighted the state of health infrastructure.

In a statement, the organisation alleged that after delaying the posting of newly qualified senior resident doctors for around three and a half months, the health department recently introduced a new recruitment mechanism that it described as confusing. The association said the step appeared to be an assertion of administrative authority.

The protesting doctors demanded the safeguarding of merit-based counselling in postings, an end to what they termed targeted placements, prevention of misuse and wastage of manpower, and measures to restore medical education while supporting higher studies.

In a recent press release, the association stated that there are several unethical signs of power abuse in this new recruitment process: First, the posting list was suddenly spread to various sources by the people after two holidays of the health department and before it came to their specific website, where the health department completely ignored merit-based counselling and posted these bonded SRs in different parts of West Bengal as per its own wishes. “We believe that the main goal of the Health Department is to show their power and whether this posting will be permanent for three years or will it change again, and even if it does, no clear explanation has been given on what basis the changes may occur,” the doctors added.

The association further pointed out, “Secondly, it is a political vendetta to harass the protesting doctors of the RG Kar movement and deliberately identifying certain places where there is no scope for work for the past specialist students only due to a lack of infrastructure. Thirdly, it needs to be clearly stated that there is no difficulty for the recently passed specialist student doctors to work anywhere in West Bengal, but if a cancer doctor is sent to a remote rural hospital where there is no infrastructure for cancer treatment, we believe that his talent will be insulted. If the Health Department fills the vacancies of General Duty Medical Officers along with other health workers in that place through a quick recruitment process, then we think that the common rural people there will benefit a lot.” Last year, the Supreme Court's reprimand also came down on the Health Department for the immoral postings of four doctors.

The association alleged that when its representatives and other senior residents reached the health facility following the march, the gate of the health facility was closed with huge barricades, and a huge police force and the few delegations that reached the office of the Director of Health Education, after passing that guard, were insulted and thrown out of the room.

The association further claimed that the health officials stated, “To be clear, there will be no counselling, and if you do not like the posting, then give the bond of 30 lakhs! He also said that they will not give any fellowship or higher degree exemption during the bond period; the exemption that is being given for DM or Mch is just their kindness.”