Jr docs: Won't rejoin work sans safety pledge

KOLKATA: Striking junior doctors in Bengal told state government at a second meeting Wednesday that they wouldn't return to work without administration's "documented commitment" to fulfilling their demand for structured security at teaching hospitals, an end to the "threat culture", and better amenities, reported.

WBJDF wrote to chief secretary Manoj Pant on Wednesday morning, seeking a meeting. The email mentioned the discussion would focus on establishment of the proposed special task force to look into their demands. Pant replied asking the WBJDF team to be at Nabanna, the state secretariat, by 6.15pm. The delegation reached about an hour late.

Pant informed the doctors that the administration would do the needful but was currently busy combating floods across Bengal, sources said.

Meanwhile, a doctor said that 40-odd days of cease-work was "too long" and the front "needs to think about a more sustainable mode of agitation".