West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant on Thursday sent a third invitation to junior doctors protesting the rape and murder of their colleague at a Kolkata hospital for talks with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The 31-year-old trainee doctor was raped and murdered at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.
Pant’s invitation on Thursday came a day after the doctors rejected a second offer for talks from the West Bengal government.
Pant rejected the doctors’ demand that the meeting with Banerjee be telecast live on news channels, but said that the talks could be video recorded in the interest of transparency.
The chief secretary said that the meeting with Banerjee was being scheduled for 5 pm at the state secretariat on Thursday. A delegation of fifteen protesting doctors could meet the chief minister, he said.
Pant also reiterated that the doctors must end their strike and resume their duties in line with the Supreme Court’s instructions. The court had ordered the protestors to get back to work no later than 5 pm on Tuesday or face disciplinary action.
On Tuesday, the doctors defied the Supreme Court order, saying they would protest till their demands were met.
The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front has been leading protests for over a month seeking the resignation of the Kolkata police commissioner and senior state health department officials.
The court had warned the doctors that they may face disciplinary action if they did not resume work by the deadline.
The same day, the protestors also rejected an initial offer from the state government for talks, objecting to an invitation that sought to restrict the number of representatives who could meet Banerjee.
After this, Pant had invited the junior doctors for talks with Banerjee on Wednesday. The chief minister also holds the health portfolio in the state government.
The chief secretary’s email included an invitation to a delegation of 12 to 15 doctors for talks at the state secretariat at 6 pm on Wednesday.
In response, the protesting doctors demanded that a 30-member delegation be allowed to take part in the talks.
They also sought the resignation of the principal secretary of health, the director of health services and the director of medical education. This was in addition to their prior demands.
In their earlier demands, the protesting doctors had sought a speedy investigation in the rape and murder case, and that the state’s healthcare facilities be equipped with adequate security.
The group also said that the “threat culture” in West Bengal’s medical centres must end.
They also demanded disciplinary proceedings against Sandip Ghosh, the principal of the institute at the time of the rape and murder, and other persons, under the 1971 West Bengal Services Classification, Control and Appeal Rules.
The rules provide for disciplinary action against government employees for misconduct.
In response, Chandrima Bhattacharya, the state’s deputy health minister, questioned if the protesting doctors were “guided by politics” and asked if they really wanted justice for their colleague.
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