The agitating junior doctors in state-run hospitals across West Bengal continued with their cease work protest on Tuesday as the 5-pm deadline set by the Supreme Court ended.
The striking doctors, demanding justice for the RG Kar hospital victim since August 9, took out a rally to 'Swasthya Bhavan', the headquarters of the health department in Salt Lake demanding justice for the rape-murder victim.
"We will continue our agitation as well as the cease work. We want the health secretary and DHE to resign," said one of the protesting junior doctors.
The protesters had set a deadline of 5 pm for the state government to accept their charter of five demands including, the resignation of the Kolkata Police Commissioner, and state Health Secretary.
"We want the state government to clean the health sector. We are carrying the brooms to initiate the cleaning programme. We are holding a peaceful march...We are disappointed with the SC'd order...we will continue our protest till the state government meets our demands," said another protesting doctor.
The protesters had also expressed an open mind to discussions with the state government.
The SC on Monday directed the protesting junior doctors to return to their work by 5 pm on Tuesday to avoid adverse action by the state government. The court's directive came after the state government assured that no action would be taken against protesting doctors if they resumed work.
Amid the impasse, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee invited the agitating doctors to the meeting at the state secretariat to resolve the issue.
Banerjee on Monday said that a team of doctors could meet me and discuss the matters that need to be resolved.
Meanwhile, former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Sandip Ghosh, along with three others were sent to judicial custody till September 23 by a special CBI court in a financial irregularities case.
The CBI has already secured large amounts of digital evidence on the alleged crime. We need time to analyse that evidence. We do not need the accused in police custody immediately. But we may seek their custody again later, if required, the agency counsel submitted in court.
Ghosh and the others were arrested by the CBI on charges of financial irregularities on September 2 amid protests over the rape and murder of the trainee doctor at the RG Kar MCH on August 9.
The Calcutta High Court on August 23 ordered the transfer of the probe into the alleged financial irregularities at the hospital from a state-constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) to the CBI.