Mass resignation by doctors not acceptable, has to be done individually: Bengal government amid R G Kar protests

Kolkata: The West Bengal government on Saturday said the mass resignation of doctors of state-run hospitals is not valid and it must be submitted individually according to service rules.

Several doctors from state-run hospitals have submitted collectively signed "resignation" letters to the government seeking justice for the post-graduate trainee who was raped and murdered at Kolkata's R G Kar Medical College and Hospital and in support of junior medics on a fast-unto-death to press for their demands.

"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, told reporters at the state secretariat Nabanna.

He clarified that the letters sent by the doctors were merely collective signatures without addressing specific issues.

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.

Earlier this week, a group of senior doctors at R G 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 their murdered colleague, the resignation of the state’s health secretary, and enhanced workplace security.

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.

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