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The stand off between junior doctors and the Bengal government over the recent rape and murder of an on-duty 31-year-old trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital continued as the agitating doctors reached the State Secretariat 'Nabanna' today with a delegation of 32 but refused to enter and meet the Bengal Chief Minister upon denial of their demands concerning the delagation size and live telecasting.
"We have been waiting for over two hours to meet our doctor brothers and sister who were invited here. We wrote them a letter and they wrote us back assuring that they will come... Only after receiving their confirmation, we invited them but it's been two hours and there is no communication from them yet. We asked them to come with an open mind and talk about any issue. Solutions can only be found through dialogues", said West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee while addressing a press conference in Kolkata.
"I am still saying that I will not take any action against them for not coming and making us wait for two hours. I will forgive them because being elders, it is our responsibility to forgive our younger ones", she said.
"For people's sake, I am ready to resign. I also want justice for murdered RG Kar hospital doctor", Banerjee further added.
Commenting on the meeting scheduled with the doctors, Manoj Pant said, "We have tried our best to make them understand. We have explained to them what all arrangements have been made. We have made recording arrangements so that the entire proceedings are well documented. There should be trust between the two parties... We want to listen to them. There should not be any difference or opinion in it, there is no conflict situation. Both of us are working with the same objective. So I don't understand why they are feeling that unless there is live streaming we will not go to the meeting. We want to document everything and discuss it with them properly."
A day after rejecting the demands of the protesting junior doctors, the West Bengal government on Thursday issued a fresh invite for talks to end the month-long stand-off.
The meeting was scheduled to be held today in the conference hall at Nabanna. The agitating junior doctors reached the State Secretariat on Thursday.
RG Kar protest: What did the govt say?
As per the official letter written by Bengal's Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, the government accepted the doctors' demand for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's presence at the meeting. However, several demands were rejected including the prerequisite of a live telecast of the talks. The letter also restricted the delegation's strength to not more than 15 people. Pant also mentioned that the meeting can be recorded to "maintain transparency".
"The meeting shall not be live telecast. However, the same can be recorded to maintain transparency. This will serve the purpose intended from your end, while also maintaining the sanctity of the proceedings, ensuring that all discussions are accurately documented," the letter by the Chief Secretary read.
RG Kar protest: What all did the doctors demand?
Earlier, the agitating doctors demanded a live telecast of the meeting in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Furthermore, the doctors also demanded a larger team of 30 delegates as doctors from numerous medical colleges and hospitals were taking part in the agitation.
"We want the discussion to be held in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and be telecast live. We want at least 30 representatives as this movement is spread across various medical colleges and hospitals," a member of the junior doctors' forum said at a press conference.
Besides seeking justice for the deceased doctor and adequate safety and security measures for all women health professionals in the state, currently, the junior doctors and thousands of non-medical people from different parts of the state are spontaneously staging protest outside Swasthya Bhavan, the state health department headquarters seeking resignation of Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal, the state health secretary, director of health education (DHE), and the director of health services (DHS).
Defying the Supreme Court's direction of joining duties by 5 PM on September 10, the protesting junior doctors continued with their cease work for the 33rd day on Wednesday.
Following the High Court's directive, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been conducting a probe into the alleged rape and murder of the woman alongside the allegations of countless financial irregularities that have surfaced following the doctor's death.
So far, CBI has taken into custody the prime accused Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer who was allegedly seen entering the seminar hall of the college where the body was found at around 4 am. The alleged kingpin of the corruption cases and the former principal of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Sandip Ghosh has also been arrested by the central probe agency.
