Kolkata:
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, after meeting the protesting junior doctors, announced that she had agreed to three of the five demands of the protesting doctors – the removal of two top health officials and the Kolkata police chief. . Along with this, the police chief of the city's north zone — home to RG Kar Medical College, the hospital where a young doctor was murdered after being raped — will also be removed. Although the standoff has been resolved, protests and ceasefires are expected to continue until formal orders are issued in the morning.
“I think the meeting was positive. I'm sure he thinks so too,” he said. “Or why would we sign the minutes of the meeting and they would sign too?” he added.
Banerjee said he had accepted 99 per cent of the doctors' demands, “because they are our younger brothers”.
“I know they say they will go and discuss and then take a decision to end the cease-fire. But I have asked them, citing the condition of the patients, especially in view of the floods in some districts. have requested to do so,” said the Chief Minister. said.
Doctors say that the protest will continue until…
This announcement is being seen as a kind of consolation. After the return of the doctors, the atmosphere at the protest site was festive. The junior doctors termed the state's acceptance of their demands as a “major victory” for their 38-day protest.
As far as protests and taking up casework is concerned, it can only happen if the government delivers, he said. “We have only received their verbal assurance,” said a representative of the Junior Doctors' Forum.
But even so, his other goal — to end the nexus of corruption at the hospital — remains, he said. “We will continue to protest for the removal of the health secretary as well,” added one of the other representatives.
Which the state has promised.
Mamata Banerjee has acknowledged the demands for upgrading the hospital's infrastructure and allocated Rs 100 crore for it.
About the removal of the two health officials – the director of medical education and the director of health services – Ms Banerjee said they would be transferred to suitable posts.
Ms. Banerjee said, “We are not disrespecting him. He has not been in the position for long and he has not done anything wrong. But since the students said they do not trust him, we Accepted,” said Ms Banerjee.
The chief minister had earlier said that city police chief Vineet Goyal would be retained at least for Durga Puja. He had asked her to resign several times, but she wanted him to stay back, she said.
The call for Mr. Goyal's dismissal comes amid allegations about the police's role in tampering with evidence after the August 9 rape and murder. The Supreme Court and the Calcutta High Court commented on it several times.
Last week, the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI, which is probing the case, arrested former hospital principal Sandeep Ghosh and a senior local police officer.
“Fifth and Final Invitation to Talks”
The chief minister's announcement came around midnight, after a two-hour meeting with the protesting doctors and another 2.5 hours to type the minutes of the meeting. Ahead of the meeting, the state government had called it the “fifth and final invitation for talks”.
After two failed attempts to negotiate with the Chief Minister, the protesting junior doctors came to the table. About 30 doctors reached Ms. Banerjee's house at 6.20 pm in a pilot police vehicle. The meeting, which was expected to start at 5 pm, finally started at 7 pm and ended around 9 pm, after which the process of finalizing the minutes began.
Doctors had their own stenographers to record the minutes. The document was signed by 40 doctors.
The standoff over the doctors' demand for justice for the rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor has been going on for over a month. The Supreme Court has already ordered doctors to close and return to patient care, which is causing pain.
The order ended the spread of the ceasefire, as doctors across India stood up to show solidarity with the protesters. But Bengal's doctors refused, redoubled with protests as the general public continued to support them.
Rape and murder that shocked the country.
A 31-year-old = doctor was raped and murdered in a hospital in Kolkata on August 9. The next morning, his partially clothed body was found in the hospital's seminar room.
The main suspect, who has been arrested, is Sanjoy Rai, a civilian volunteer of the Kolkata Police, who was posted at the police post at the hospital and had access to all departments.
But the inquest left many questions unanswered – including the various distorted versions the parents were told, one of which was a claim that their daughter had died by suicide.
There were also allegations that the police had forcibly performed the last rites against the parents' wishes and that an officer had even offered them money to bury them.
Construction near the crime scene, mob attack on protesters at RG Kar Hospital on the night of August 15 and shifting of Sandeep Ghosh to a top hospital hours after he resigned.
The courts questioned why the ex-principal did not file a complaint on time for the first information report, post-mortem report and related documents. The case was handed over to the CBI, which first arrested Ghosh in connection with a parallel corruption case it was investigating and then for alleged tampering with evidence.
The sequence of events sparked protests across the country, already outraged by the shocking crime.