Stand-off Continues, Mamata Banerjee-Doctors’ Meeting Yet To Begin
The stand-off between Mamata Banerjee and junior doctors protesting the rape-murder of their colleague at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital continued Thursday evening, with a delegation of 32 camped outside the state secretariat but refusing to enter and meet the Bengal Chief Minister.
The impasse, Chief Secretary Manoj Pant told reporters, was over a demand to live-stream the meeting. The state, he complained, had already accepted two of their pre-conditions for this meeting – that Ms Banerjee be present and that a delegation of 30+ doctors be allowed.
“We e-mailed the doctors in the afternoon and they came… we allowed all 32 to attend the meeting. But they demand live-streaming… we said this cannot be allowed. We have said we will record it,” he said, adding the doctors said “they will not come till (all) demands are met”.
The Chief Minister has been waiting since 5 pm, he said, 90 minutes after the scheduled start.
Earlier today the doctors had been invited, for a third time, to meet the state government and negotiate an end to their strike, which they have carried now for 34 consecutive days.
Two invitations this week were rejected – the first because it was sent by the state Health Secretary, Narayan Swaroop, whose resignation they have demanded, and the second because the Chief Minister had declined to meet them. The second invitation was also rejected because the state limited the doctors’ delegation to 15 and said the meeting could not be live-streamed.
