The Bengal government on Thursday afternoon invited junior doctors – on strike for 34 consecutive days to protest the rape-murder of a colleague at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital – to another round of talks, which will be attended by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Chief Secretary Manoj Pant said.
The protesting doctors had refused two earlier invitations because she was not to be present.
Mr Pant, however, said the state would not accept a demand to live-stream the meeting but offered a compromise, saying it could be recorded “to maintain transparency”. “This will serve the purpose intended from your end while also ensuring all discussions are accurately documented,” he wrote.
“The state is always willing to engage in a dialogue with concerned stakeholders…” Mr Pant’s letter said and called on a delegation of no more than 15 to meet Ms Banerjee at her home at 5 pm.
Ms Banerjee has “waited for your positive response (for the past) two days”, the state said.
Junior doctors have been holding a sit-in protest outside the state’s Health Department HQ for several days now, even though their senior colleagues have returned to work following a plea by the Supreme Court. They have criticised the state for not meeting to hear their concerns.
READ | Junior Doctors Continue Sit-In Protest Over Kolkata Rape-Murder
An invitation to talks was issued Tuesday by the state’s Health Secretary, Narayan Swaroop, but that was summarily rejected since one of the protesting doctors’ demands is that Mr Swaroop be removed from his post. Mr Pant wrote to the on Wednesday, but that invitation was refused because the state then refused to both live-stream the meet and have Ms Banerjee present.
READ | “Delegation Of 30, Live Telecast”: Doctors’ Demands For Mamata Meet
Now, with Ms Banerjee under heavy fire, the ruling Trinamool has relented on those two demands, although it appears to hold firm on allowing no more than 15 doctors to meet her.
In their response to Mr Pant’s first invitation the doctors said they would send a delegation of at least 30 representatives, and stressed the meet would revolve around their five core demands.
The demands include holding to account all those responsible for the rape and murder of their colleague, as well as destruction of evidence, and to take strict disciplinary action against Dr Sandip Ghosh, the former RG Kar Hospital head who has been arrested by the CBI.
READ | Ex-RG Kar Chief Sandip Ghosh Sent To Judicial Custody Till Sep 23
The doctors have also demanded the sacking of Kolkata Police chief Vineet Goyal, whose leadership of the force has been heavily criticised, and Health Secretary Narayan Swaroop.
The protesting doctors have also asked for adequate security for healthcare workers, particularly the elimination of a ‘threat culture’ they say is rampant in state-run facilities.
The doctors’ protests have, the state has argued, affected healthcare service in Bengal, but the government is wary of blaming the striking medicos, with Health Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya blaming “political forces” for orchestrating the agitation. This led to a quick rebuttal from the medics, who dismissed the “baseless” claims and said the protests would continue till demands are met.
In his first letter to the doctors Mr Pant also pointed out they had overrun the deadline set by the Supreme Court – to return to work by 5 pm Tuesday. “You will, no doubt, appreciate and agree that, as a law-abiding citizen, it is everyone’s duty to adhere to (the court’s) directions…” he said.
The Supreme Court, which took suo moto cognisance of the RG Kar horror, had left it to the Bengal government to deal with the striking junior doctors. So far, however, Ms Banerjee has not taken any action, undoubtedly aware of the political firestorm to be unleashed if she does.
Both the Chief Minister and the state government are aware that negotiating a peaceful end to this protest will go a long way to neutralising public anger over the woman’s rape and killing.
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