Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addressing doctors at an event in Kolkata on February 24. The event ‘Treatment is a Service to Humanity’ was an outreach of the West Bengal Government to healthcare professionals. Photo: Debasish Bhaduri/The Hindu
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday (February 24, 2025) announced a hike in the salaries of Government doctors. She emphasised that doctors were above any kind of politics.
The salary of senior doctors will be hiked by ₹15,000 a month and that of interns, house staff, and postgraduate trainees will be increased by ₹10,000 a month, Ms. Banerjee, who also holds the health portfolio, told a gathering of doctors of State-run hospitals.
“You are not part of politics. Your colour is not a political colour. Your colour is the colour of humanity and service,” the Chief Minister said at an event titled “Treatment is Service”.
The hike in salaries comes months after health practitioners took to the streets against the West Bengal government over the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at the R.G. Kar Memorial College and Hospital in Kolkata.
Addressing the gathering, Ms. Banerjee said that her government respected doctors and their service, irrespective of their political affiliations. “We have a lot of hope from our doctors – I request them not to settle abroad,” the Chief Minister said, emphasising that the situation in foreign countries was not very conducive.
Strict punishment in R.G. Kar case
Ms. Banerjee started her address by “offering condolences to the grieving family of our sister” (the R.G. Kar victim, whose body was recovered from the seminar room of the State-run facility on August 9).
“We demand deserving punishment in this case. I took to the streets regarding this matter. Our State government passed the Aparajita Bill but it has been kept pending,” the Chief Minister said. The West Bengal Legislative Assembly passed the Aparajita Women and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024 with provisions of death sentence in cases involving rape on September 3.
Also read | Doctor rape and murder: Violence and vigil in Kolkata
A trial court in January 2025 convicted Sanjay Roy, a former civic police volunteer, for rape and murder of the trainee doctor and awarded him life imprisonment. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has approached the Calcutta High Court seeking death penalty for the convict.
The parents of the deceased doctor, however, were not comforted by the remarks of the Chief Minister and said that she had made various statements at various times which have not helped them in their fight for justice.
Between August and October 2024, the West Bengal government faced severe protests from doctors over the rape and murder of the doctor. The doctors who went on cease work and hunger strike forced her to transfer to the Kolkata Police Commissioner and senior officials of the State Government.
The Chief Minister during the event on Monday (February 24, 2025) granted several relaxations to the doctors, including allowing them to engage in private practice after eight-hour duty. She also announced ₹2 crore for sports and cultural activities at every medical college and hospitals.
On the incident at the Medinipur Medical College where expired saline was administered to pregnant women, the Chief Minister announced that the suspension of junior doctors had been withdrawn.
Published – February 24, 2025 09:42 pm IST