Kolkata rape and murder case: Protesting doctors reach CM’s residence to resolve RG Kar hospital standoff

Agitated junior doctors marched towards West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s residence on Saturday evening to attend a meeting to resolve the ongoing RG Kar Hospital impasse.

Responding to a letter sent by West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, the doctors said they would attend the meeting at the chief minister’s residence in Kalighat and present their five demands.

“We will attend the meeting with our representatives. We will present our five demands. We are going to the talks with an open mind, but no one should have any illusions that we will compromise on our demands,” said an agitated doctor.

In an email, Chief Secretary Manoj Pant said 15 representatives of junior doctors had been invited to the meeting.

The incident happened hours after Banerjee paid them a surprise visit at the protest site outside ‘Swasthya Bhavan’, the headquarters of the health ministry.

“You are cordially invited for an open discussion at 6 pm today at the Chief Minister’s Kalighat residence. A delegation of 15 junior doctors may kindly attend the said meeting. We are eagerly awaiting your positive response in this regard,” the Chief Secretary’s letter read.

Earlier, after Banerjee’s visit to their protest site, the junior doctors sent a letter to the state government expressing their desire to hold talks with Banerjee to resolve the RG Kar deadlock.

“We are ready to hold a meeting with the chief minister anywhere and anytime to resolve the impasse. We are looking forward to her visit this afternoon. It is a very positive step. We have sent a letter to the state government,” said one of the angry doctors.

He did not, however, specify whether they were still sticking to their previous request for a “live broadcast” of the entire meeting.

But, he added, “we want transparency.” In its letter, the West Bengal Young Doctors Front wrote: “We are grateful to you for your exceptional gesture of goodwill by coming to us in this unfavourable weather and sharing your thoughts with us. We consider this as a welcome step towards a fluid discussion and collective clarity on our five demands for which we have been peacefully protesting for the last 35 days.”

“We are more than willing to have a discussion in your esteemed presence with adequate representations and proper transparency as agreed by both parties,” they wrote.

The junior doctors who have been on “standstill” since the evening of August 9, are also demanding suspension of Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal, Health Secretary NS Nigam, Director of Health Services and Director of Medical Education for “dereliction” of duty in the context of the RG Kar incident.

Young doctors are also demanding adequate safety measures for all female health professionals in the state.

They have also written to President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Health Minister JP Nadda to intervene in the matter to expedite the investigation.

The body of a female doctor graduate was found in the seminar room of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. A Kolkata civic police volunteer was arrested the next day in connection with the crime.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched an investigation into the rape and murder of the woman doctor, following an order from the Calcutta High Court.