Kolkata: The agitating junior doctors on Saturday evening headed towards West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s residence to take part in a meeting to resolve the ongoing RG Kar hospital impasse.
Responding to a mail sent by West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, the doctors said they would attend the meeting at the Chief Minister’s Kalighat residence and place their five demands.
“We would attend the meeting with our representatives. We will place our five demands. We are going to the discussions with an open mind, but no one should be under the illusion that we will compromise on our demands,” an agitating doctor said.
In an email, Chief Secretary Manoj Pant emphasised that 15 representatives of the junior doctors were invited to the meeting.
The development took place hours after Banerjee paid a surprise visit to them at their site of the demonstration outside ‘Swasthya Bhavan’, the health department headquarters.
“You are kindly invited for a discussion with open mind, at 6 PM today at the Kalighat residence of the Chief Minister. A delegation of 15 junior doctors may kindly attend the said meeting. We look forward to your positive response in this regard,” the chief secretary’s mail read.
Earlier, after Banerjee’s visit to their protest site, the junior doctors sent a mail to the state government expressing their wish to hold talks with Banerjee to resolve the RG Kar impasse.
“We are willing to hold a meeting with the chief minister anywhere and anytime to resolve the impasse. We welcome her visit to us this afternoon. This is a very positive move. We have sent a mail to the state government,” one of the agitating doctors said.
He, however, did not clarify whether they are still sticking to their earlier demand for “live streaming ” the entire meeting.
But, he said, “We want transparency.”
In their mail, the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front wrote, “We are grateful that you have showed an exceptional goodwill gesture by coming amidst us in this adverse weather and sharing your thoughts with us. We take this as a welcome step towards our smooth discussion and collective clarity of our five-point demands for which we have been protesting peacefully for the last 35 days.”
“We are more than willing to have a discussion in your esteemed presence with adequate representations and proper transparency as agreed by both the parties,” they wrote.
The junior doctors who have been on ‘cease work’ since the August 9 evening, are also demanding the suspension of Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal, Health Secretary NS Nigam, Director of Health Services, and Director of Medical Education for “failing” in their duties in the context of the RG Kar incident.
The junior medics are also demanding adequate safety and security measures for all women health professionals in the state.
They have also written to President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Health Minister JP Nadda to intervene in the matter to expedite the investigation.
The body of a postgraduate woman doctor was recovered from the seminar hall of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. A Kolkata Police civic volunteer was arrested the next day in connection with the crime.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been conducting a probe into the rape and murder of the woman medic, following a Calcutta High Court order.
