Jr docs seek meet with STF over hosp security

Kolkata: Members of the West Bengal Junior Doctors' Front (WBJDF) sent a mail to chief secretary Manoj Pant on Tuesday night, requesting him to arrange a meeting of the State Task Force (STF) to discuss various issues pertaining to the state healthcare system and the proper implementation of the measures suggested for improving safety and security in hospitals."Regarding the central real-time digitized bed vacancy monitoring system and central referral system, we sent specific suggestions to you through e-mail. But until now, we have not received any communication from you regarding the STF meeting. We again request you to arrange the meeting," the letter read.Asfakullah Naiya, a junior doctor at RG Kar Hospital and a representative of the front, told TOI: "We met CM Mamata Banerjee at Nabanna on Oct 21. The govt authorities promised us that the STF meeting would be held with us regularly. Since then, no such meeting has been held to date. We are pressing the state for the meeting."In the letter, the junior doctors also alleged that several topics discussed at the Oct 21 meeting — like the formation a ‘Resident Doctors' Association at every medical college — were not mentioned in the record, which they received about two weeks ago. Although no specific date was given, the record mentions that student union elections will be held in medical colleges by March 2025.