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Mamata Banerjee accepts ‘99% demands’ of medics; junior doctors to continue ‘cease work’ protest
After the meeting between Bengal government and protesting doctors, the CM said that they have accepted most of the medics' demands.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Monday night that the state government has accepted most of the demands put forward by the agitating doctors, demanding justice for the RG Kar rape and murder victim. Banerjee also announced Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal, director of health services and director of medical education would be removed, as per the demands of the protesting doctors.
“Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and Deputy Commissioner of the North Division Abhishek Gupta will be transferred. The doctors had claimed that Goyal had earlier told them that he wanted to step down because they had lost faith in him. We have accommodated his request and transferred him to a position he had asked for,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee said that the meeting with the medics on Monday evening was “fruitful”, and nearly “99 percent of their demands have been met.” After the meeting held to resolve the RG Kar impasse, the chief minister said that the name of the new Kolkata police commissioner will be announced after 4 PM on Tuesday.
Further, CM Mamata Banerjee urged the doctors to return to work as most of their demands have been accepted. “No punitive action will be taken against the doctors… I would request them to rejoin work as common people are suffering,” she said.
However, the medics said after the meeting that they will continue their ‘cease work’ protest on Tuesday. The said that they will wait for the Supreme Court hearing on the Kolkata rape and murder case on Tuesday.
After the meeting, Banerjee said that the state government accepted three out of the five demands put forward by the agitating doctors. “A demand regarding the investigation (into the rape-murder case) cannot be met as the matter is before the Supreme Court and the CBI is investigating. We have full faith in the judiciary," she said.
Read more: Kolkata doctor rape-murder: Police officer arrested for delay in FIR lauded by senior for ‘transparent’ probe
42 medics arrived at the chief minister's residence at 6:20 pm on Monday, and the meeting began at 7 pm. The meeting, originally scheduled for 5 pm, ran for two hours.
Previous attempts to resolve the issue got stuck due to the state government's rejection of the doctors' demand for live-streaming and video recordings of the meeting. The agitating medics later agreed to a compromise and settled on recording the minutes of the meeting and receiving a signed copy.
(With inputs from PTI)
