With the ongoing strike by junior doctors in Bengal entering the fifth day on Saturday, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee today said the state government accepts all their demands and asked them to resume work at the earliest. Drawing parallels with other states in the past, the chief minister also reiterated that the Bengal government did not want to invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against the agitating junior doctors. Support for the agitating doctors had poured in from the medical fraternity across the country. Over the past two days, as many as 640 doctors in Bengal -- professors, associate professors, assistant professors and medical officers - have written to the authorities saying that they would like to resign from the services. Earlier on Thursday, the chief minister had also alleged the presence of ‘outsiders’ triggering angry reactions from the protesting doctors.

Source: Hindustan Times June 15, 2019 14:17 UTC