Bengal govt sends fresh letter to agitating doctors, calls for meeting

In a fresh invitation to the agitating junior doctors, the West Bengal government on Thursday, 12 September, gave a 5 pm slot for a meeting to end the impasse over the R.G. Kar hospital incident, but rejected the protesters’ demand for live telecast of the talks.

This is the third offer from the state government for talks in the last two days, with the agitators rejecting the previous two proposals and setting concrete conditions for the meeting.

While the government accepted the doctors' demand for chief minister Mamata Banerjee's presence at the meeting, it turned down their prerequisite for live telecast of the talks, and restricted the delegation's strength to not more than 15 people as against the protesters' wish for 30 members.

The letter addressed by chief secretary Manoj Pant to the junior doctors, who have stayed put in a sit-in before the state health department headquarters in Salt Lake, for nearly 48 hours, said the government was "open to meeting the delegates to ensure smooth functioning of the healthcare infrastructure", but "cannot be in any manner contrary to the directions passed by the Supreme Court for resumption of work".

"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 protesting doctors are yet to respond to the communication.

The protests began after the body of a postgraduate trainee was found with severe injury marks at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital on 9 August. The CBI is conducting a probe upon directions of the Calcutta High Court.

Earlier in the day, an unattended bag at the RG Kar hospital here triggered panic, following which a bomb disposal squad rushed to the spot.

According to TV visuals, the bomb disposal squad along with sniffer dogs were investigating the site, the place where the junior doctors have been protesting since 9 August. Presently, the spot is vacant as the medics are protesting outside 'Swasthya Bhavan' in Salt Lake.

No evidence of any harmful object has yet been found, police said.