Kolkata: A two-and-a-half-hour marathon meeting between doctors' organisations and the chief secretary Manoj Pant at Swasthya Bhavan failed to break the deadlock. Home Secretary Nandini Chakraborty was also present at the meeting.
After coming out of the meeting, representatives of the doctors' organisations said that no solution was found till the end, making it another abortive attempt.
On the contrary, Pant said, "Seven of the 10-point demands discussed with the doctors' organisations have either started or are on the verge of completion. The disagreement is primarily over three points. But since most of the demands have been accepted, let the junior doctors call off the fast, considering it positive."
He informed the state administration is not saying anything about the discussion with junior doctors. However, the administration is concerned about the health of the junior doctors on fast. He urged them to call off the hunger strike.
The senior doctors who attended the meeting term the outcome as disappointing. "We came with a lot of hope that the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and the officials of our health department will surely take steps thinking about the junior doctors so that a solution can be reached. We thought we would see a positive role from the government. But we found that they were not concerned. We also thought that the government would be able to tell us exactly when the work would be completed but it was not available with the Chief Secretary," Dr Tamonash Chowdhury told reporters after coming out from the meeting.
Another doctor, Biplab Chandra, said the doctors are on hunger strike for 10 days with some of them getting sick and being admitted to the hospital in critical conditions. "We thought that, maybe this time, we will get a positive reply. The government would give a written assurance and go to the junior doctors to tell them to call off the agitation. The Chief Secretary did nothing. From this, it seems that the government is not bothered by the protesting junior doctors.
"Since today's meeting was called by the highest officials of the administration, we thought that there might be a positive response. But after coming out of the meeting we can say that we are disappointed," Dr Utpal Banerjee said.
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