Protesting doctors get fresh call from Bengal govt for meeting at CM’s residence

Kolkata:  A fresh invitation has gone from Chief Secretary Manoj Pant to the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Forum (WBJDF) on Monday for discussion with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to resolve the ongoing impasse over the junior doctors’ protests in support of their demands on the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital.

In the mail, the time of the meeting has been fixed at 5 p.m. Monday and the venue is the official residence of the Chief Minister at Kalighat in South Kolkata, where the earlier meeting on Saturday failed to fructify.

In the invitation email, the Chief Secretary advised the same delegation who came to the Chief Minister’s residence on Saturday to be present at the same venue by 4.45 p.m.

“This is the fifth and final time we are reaching out to you for a meeting between the Honourable Chief Minister and your delegates. In line of the discussion on the day before, we are once again inviting you to a meeting with the Honourable Chief Minister at her Kalighat residence for a discussion with an open mind,” the email from the Chief Secretary read.

The Chief Secretary also claimed that there will be no live-streaming or videography of the meeting since the matter is sub-judice in the Supreme Court. “Instead the minutes of the meeting will be recorded and signed by both parties,” the email read.

“We look forward to your positive response and a productive and fruitful discussion,” it added.

Till the time the report was filed the junior doctors, who were still in their sit-in demonstration in front of Swastha Bhavan, the state health department headquarters at Salt Lake in the northern outskirts of Kolkata, are yet to convey their decision on the proposed meeting.

A crucial hearing of the ghastly rape and murder is scheduled at the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Senior advocate and social activist Indira Jaising will be representing WBJDF at the hearing.