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No live telecast, 15-member delegation: Bengal govt to doctors for 5pm meet with CM Mamata Banerjee
This is the third communication from the government to the doctors in the last two days, with the protesters rejecting the previous two proposals.
West Bengal chief secretary Manoj Pant on Thursday issued a fresh appeal to junior doctors protesting over the alleged rape and murder of a female doctor, urging them to attend a meeting with chief minister Mamata Banerjee at 5pm.
The state government, however, rejected the doctors' demand for a live telecast of the meeting but agreed to allow the discussion to be recorded for transparency. In his letter, Pant also restricted the delegation size to 15 doctors, while confirming Mamata Banerjee's presence at the talks aimed at resolving the ongoing impasse.
"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 Chief Secretary stated in his letter.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit out at the government's refusal to live telecast the meeting, expressing scepticism over its offer to record the meeting for “transparency”.
“Well, the WB Govt couldn’t preserve vaginal swab of the rape and murder victim of RG Kar Medical College & Hospital. They couldn’t even produce the challan, a mandatory document before a body is sent in for post-mortem, and they expect the Junior Doctors to trust them?” BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya posted on X.
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The doctors have been staging a sit-in outside the West Bengal Health Department’s office in Salt Lake, demanding justice for their colleague, whose body was discovered with injuries on August 9 at RG Kar Medical College. Their agitation, which has paralysed healthcare services at state-run hospitals, is now in its 34th day.
Despite the government’s invitation to talks on Wednesday, the doctors had insisted on chief minister Mamata Banerjee's presence and the live broadcast as preconditions.
"We will continue our agitation and ‘cease work’. But, we did not want to continue this. The state government is not open to holding any meeting with us. And, we want to make it clear that there is no politics behind our stir," PTI had quoted one of the protesting doctors as saying.
Follow LIVE updates on Kolkata rape-murder case
The junior doctors have called for increased security for female healthcare workers, along with the suspension of several officials, including the Kolkata Police Commissioner, for alleged mismanagement of the case.
The investigation into the alleged rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital is being handled by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the orders of the Calcutta high court.
