Mamata visits agitating docs; protesters allege state not 'serious'

PTI Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday made a surprise visit to the site where junior doctors were protesting and assured them that their demands would be addressed, asking them to come for talks, but the proposed meeting fell through with the protesters claiming that they were asked to leave "unceremoniously" after waiting for three hours at the gates of CM's residence. After the protesters refused to enter Banerjee's residence due to the government's rejection of their demand for a live telecast, she came out to appeal to the doctors to join the talks and urged them "not to insult her," and promised them that a signed copy of the minutes of the meeting would be given. The protesters claimed that they agreed to have the meeting without the livestreaming, a key demand of theirs. An agitating doctor, before leaving the venue, said they had agreed to attend the meeting without livestreaming or video recording as Banerjee requested, but after notifying Minister of State for Health, Chandrima Bhattacharya, of this decision, they were told to leave because it was too late and the officials had been waiting for three hours.

Meanwhile, the CBI, which is probing the rapemurder case, added charges of tampering with evidence against former RG Kar hospital principal Sandip Ghosh, who is currently in judicial custody and arrested Abhijit Mondal, the officer-in-charge of Tala police station, on charges of misleading the investigation and altering the crime scene. Earlier in the day, Banerjee made a surprise visit to the protest site outside Swasthya Bhawan in Salt Lake and assured the doctors that she would look into their demands and take action if anyone was found guilty. Addressing the protesters amid chants of 'we want justice', she described her visit as the "last attempt" to resolve the crisis. She assured them that she would not take any action against them as she did not believe in suppressing a democratic movement. Banerjee, who was accompanied by DGP Rajiv Kumar, promised to "study their demands and take action if anyone was found guilty." She urged them to "return to work and stated she would discuss their demands with the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, and the DGP." Banerjee also urged the CBI to complete the investigation into the rape-murder case soon.

"Let the guilty be punished. I will definitely take action if anyone is found guilty," she said. She noted that in BJPruled Uttar Pradesh, the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) was used to dismantle similar protests. "I will not take any action against you. This is not UP. They had implemented ESMA and stopped all sorts of strikes and rallies. But I will not do anything of that sort. I am against taking any action against doctors. Think about my proposal. If I can come to this protest site to stand by you, I can also ensure justice and listen to your demands," she said. Banerjee announced that all patient welfare committees at state-run hospitals, including RG Kar hospital, would be immediately dissolved and replaced with new ones led by principals and include representatives from junior and senior doctors, nurses, and police. Later in the evening, responding to Banerjee's visit, the doctors wrote to the state government expressing their desire to sit for talks, which was readily accepted, and they were asked to come to the CM's Kalighat residence. In a dramatic turn of events, the proposed talks did not take off after protesters refused to enter the venue following the state's rejection of their demand to live telecast the meeting.

In a bid to persuade the protesters, Banerjee came to the gates of her residence and appealed to the agitating doctors to join the meeting. "I request you all to come inside and attend the meeting. As the matter is before the court, we cannot allow live streaming. I will videorecord the meeting and provide you with a copy only after permission of the Supreme Court," she said. "I will provide you with the signed copy of the minutes of the meeting. Today, you said you wanted a meeting, so I have been waiting. Why are you people insulting me like this? Earlier on three occasions, I have been waiting but you people didn't come," she said. As the doctors huddled for an emergency meeting with the co-protesters, DGP Rajeev Kumar, Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, and Bhattacharya left the venue, saying it was too late for the talks. Before leaving the gates of the CM's residence, an agitating doctor told reporters that they had agreed to attend the meeting withoutlive-streaming or video recording, following her request.