West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday offered to resign “for the sake of people” after the junior doctors refused to participate in the meeting to resolve the RG Kar impasse.
“For the sake of the people, I am ready to resign. I also want the victims to get justice, but this is not the way. We have tolerated a lot of canards and insults for the last 33 days. I thought the junior doctors would engage in talks for the sake of the patients and on humanitarian grounds,” she said.
“We have been waiting for over two hours, hoping that reason would guide the junior doctors… I apologise to the people, who expected that the issue would be resolved today,” she said adding that “external instructions” were influencing some junior doctors not to engage in discussions.
Banerjee pointed out that around 27 patients have died and approximately 7 lakh people have suffered because of the ongoing ‘cease work’ by the junior doctors.
“I too want justice for the victims, but the doctors must rejoin work following the SC verdict,” she said.
Meanwhile, the junior doctors said they never demanded the resignation of the CM and accused the West Bengal government of being rigid and adamant.
“The chief minister’s remarks are unfortunate. We wanted the talks to take place. However, the state administration was adamant about not allowing live streaming of the meeting. Our demands are justified. We wanted live streaming for the transparency of the meeting,” one of the agitating doctors told reporters.
“We had never asked for her resignation and are neither here to press for it. We are here with our demands for the sake of justice for the murdered doctor of RG Kar Hospital. We wanted to resolve this issue. We are extremely unhappy that the talks did not take place. But we will still wait for a response from the administration,” he added.
A group of protesting junior doctors who reached the West Bengal state secretariat Nabanna to hold talks to resolve the RG Kar hospital impasse, refused to join Bengal government’s proposal for talks in presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The protestors who reached the secretariat at around 5.25 pm stayed put at the venue threshold for over an hour and were seen engaged in meetings even as a high-strung battle of nerves ensued between the two sides with both staying firm on their respective stands.
All this while, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was reportedly waiting at the venue to take part in the meeting.
Mamata Banerjee informedĀ PTIĀ that, since the RG Kar case is currently sub-judice, the meeting with junior doctors cannot be live-streamed as they had requested. However, arrangements were made to video record the meeting, and with permission from the Supreme Court, this recording could have been shared with them.
“I tried thrice to hold talks with junior doctors to end RG Kar stalemate. I apologise to Bengal people who expected an end to RG Kar impasse today,” the Chief Minister said.
“We had conveyed in our letter that live streaming will not be possible but had given our assurances that we would have the whole session recorded for documentation and posterity. The chief minister is waiting for them for the last hour and half. There should be a limit to such demands. We have tried to convince the doctors but they have still not accepted. We request them to consider attending this meeting,” said chief secretary Pant.
Earlier in the day, West Bengal government sent a fresh letter to the protesting junior doctors inviting them for a meeting today.
The doctors were protesting the rape and murder of a 31-year-old junior doctor at the R.G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
The doctors, who are staging a sit-in protest near Swasthya Bhawan in Kolkatahad on Wednesday written to the government demanding a 30-member delegation to be allowed to attend a meeting to resolve the issue in presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. They have also asked the meeting to be live streamed for transparency.
While the government agreed to the doctors’ demand for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjeeās presence at the meeting, it rejected their request for a live telecast of the talks.
Additionally, the government restricted the delegationās size to no more than 15 people, contrary to the protesters’ request for 30 members.
The letter by Chief Secretary Manoj Pant states that the government was “open to meeting the delegates to ensure smooth functioning of the healthcare infrastructure in the state”, but “cannot be in any manner contrary to the directions passed by theĀ Supreme Court for resumption of work”.
“The meeting will not be live telecast. However, it can be recorded to maintain transparency. This will serve your purpose while also preserving the sanctity of the proceedings and ensuring that all discussions are accurately documented,” the Chief Secretary stated in his letter. The protesting doctors have not yet responded to the communication.
