30-member junior doctors' delegation head to Nabanna for 'talks' with Mamata

Kolkata: A delegation of 30 representatives of the West Bengal Junior Doctors Forum (WBJDF) left for state Secretariat Nabanna on Thursday for a meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on their demands over the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run R.G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata last month.

The decision to send 30 representatives is a direct defiance of the cap of 15 put by the state government, which was intimated to the protesting junior doctors earlier in the day by Chief Secretary Manoj Pant through an email.

Pant also said the state government will not accept the junior medics' demand to livestream the meeting, but offered to recorded it "to maintain transparency".

"This will serve the purpose intended from your end while also ensuring all discussions are accurately documented," Pant wrote in the email, as he called on a delegation of no more than 15 to meet the Chief Minister.

However, before leaving for Nabanna, delegation leader Aniket Mahato said it is impossible to send less than 30 representatives since at least one from each of the 26 state-run medical colleges will have to be accommodated.

“We are also sticking to our demand to livestream the discussions for the sake of transparency, which the state government has already denied. We will raise the same demand after reaching Nabanna,” Mahato added.

In his communique, the Chief Secretary said that as demanded by the protesting junior doctors, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee “will be happy” to meet them.

The protesting doctors had set a few conditions for the meeting, including sending a 30-member delegation, meeting to be held in the presence of the Chief Minister, live telecast of the meeting for transparency, and the five-point demand which they have been pressing for since the beginning.

One of the major demands in the five-point agenda is suspension of the state Health Secretary, Director of Health Services, and Director of Medical Education.

On Monday, the Supreme Court had said that doctors in West Bengal protesting against the R.G. Kar rape-murder must resume their duties by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, failing which the state government will be authorised to initiate disciplinary action against them.

However, unnerved by the Supreme Court's ultimatum, the junior doctors vowed to continue their agitation and gave a call to march to the Swasthya Bhavan on Tuesday afternoon. The deadlock over talks between the protesters and the state administration has continued since then.