'No legal value': Bengal govt rejects mass resignation of doctors amid RG Kar row

NEW DELHI: The West Bengal government on Saturday rejected the mass resignations tendered by senior doctors of the state-run-hospitals saying papers had no "legal value." This came after the Mamata government received several resignation letters from doctors in support of the junior doctors' fast-onto-death strike, who are demanding justice for the PG trainee medic in rape and murder case.
"We have been receiving certain letters which do refer to mass resignation as a point of reference. Certain pages without any mention of the subject have been annexed to such letters. Those annexed subjectless papers do indeed contain some signatures without the designations mentioned. These mass resignations, as they are being described, actually have no legal value...This kind of generic letter has no legal standing," Alapan Bandyopadhyay, chief advisor to chief minister Mamata Banerjee, said.
Read more about the mass resignation by doctors: 50 senior doctors of RG Kar hospital resign in support of junior doctors' 'fast-unto-death' protest
"Unless an employee sends in his/her resignation personally to the employer as per service rules, it is not a resignation letter," he added.
Earlier this week, over 50 of senior faculty members at RG Kar Medical College submitted a collectively signed "mass resignation" letter in support of their protesting junior colleagues. This move was quickly followed by similar letters from doctors at other state-run hospitals.
Junior doctors across various government hospitals in the state are currently on a fast-unto-death, demanding justice for their murdered colleague, the resignation of the state’s health secretary, and improved workplace security.
In response, the government has stated that healthcare services at state-run hospitals remain uninterrupted, as senior doctors continue their duties as usual. The junior doctors had previously called off their 'total cease work' at medical colleges and hospitals on October 4.