Last week, junior doctors of state government-run hospitals in West Bengal returned to duty after more than 40 days of protests and strikes triggered by the tragic rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. They are now dedicated to aiding those impacted by the ongoing flood situation in the state.
After concluding their strike on September 19, junior doctors from RG Kar and various other state government-run medical colleges have operated around 30 camps in flood-affected areas in the districts of Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, and Hooghly where the water has receded.
Through these camps, named 'Abhaya Clinic' in honour of the victim, doctors are not only offering medical care but are also providing medicines and food to flood victims.
Initially, junior doctors had launched these clinics to provide telemedicine services on weekends during the protests, addressing concerns that their strike was denying underprivileged people medical attention in state government facilities. Subsequently, they set up physical camps with the same name outside of medical colleges and other public places.
Abhaya Clinics in flood-hit areas have provided significant relief to individuals with chronic illnesses and those newly affected by water-borne diseases. This support has been crucial as regular medical facilities have been overwhelmed, initially due to the absence of junior doctors and now because of the flooding.
“After we ended our strike, we decided that we have to visit the flood areas on humanitarian grounds. The situation is extremely worrying as people are spending their days at relief camps or on terraces of taller buildings, mostly schools,” RG Kar’s Dr. Aniket Mahato, a leading face of the movement, told THE WEEK.
The junior doctors also see these camps as an opportunity to expand their ongoing movement to rural parts of West Bengal, demonstrating their commitment to providing medical care to every citizen. Additionally, these camps are being viewed as a response to the West Bengal government’s claim in the Supreme Court that 23 people had died due to the doctors’ strike.
"In these camps, we have interacted with a large section of people from outside of Kolkata. They are now seeing that junior doctors can go to any extent for their service," Dr. Mahato said. "People have realised that our movement was not meant to deprive anyone."
To their surprise, he says, most people were aware of the movement by junior doctors. People had been protesting independently in their own areas and even joined the ‘Reclaim the Night’ event on August 14.
Junior doctors ensured their ongoing movement was visible in the camps by wearing badges and using prescriptions marked with ‘Justice for RG Kar’.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has described this as the most severe flood in the Lower Damodar and surrounding areas since 2009, affecting more than 5 million people and killing 28. Several areas are facing power shortages.
During her administrative meeting in Birbhum's Bolpur on Tuesday, the chief minister asked the power department to restore electricity as soon as possible. The state government has also announced plans to repair damaged public infrastructure and homes and provide compensation to farmers who have suffered crop losses.