Kolkata: The agitating medics on Saturday evening reached West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's residence to take part in a meeting to resolve the ongoing RG Kar hospital impasse. However, the talks did not begin till late evening as they stuck to their demand for live-streaming of their discussions.
The Chief Minister appealed to the doctors to join the talks, saying that the live-streaming would not be possible as the matter is before the court. She offered to provide a copy of a video recording of the talks.
Earlier, after getting the invitation from the state Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, the agitating doctors placed five demands before the CM. "We would attend the meeting with our representatives. We will place our five demands. We are going to the discussions with an open mind, but no one should be under the illusion that we will compromise on our demands", an agitating doctor said.
The movement came after the agitating medics sent a mail to the state government expressing their wish to hold talks with the Chief Minister to resolve the ongoing furore.
The mail was sent hours after Banerjee paid a surprise visit to them at their protest site of the demonstration outside 'Swasthya Bhavan', the health department headquarters.
"We are willing to hold a meeting with the chief minister anywhere and anytime to resolve the impasse. We welcome her visit to us this afternoon. This is a very positive move. We have sent a mail to the state government," one of the agitating doctors said.
He, however, did not clarify whether they are still sticking to their earlier demand for "live streaming" the entire meeting. But he said, "We want transparency."
The protest took place after an on-duty medic was allegedly raped and murdered at a state-run hospital named RG Kar on August 9. A civic volunteer was arrested by the Kolkata Police in connection with the case the following day.
The incident has triggered nationwide outrage and protests. The junior doctors have been observing ‘cease work’ for over a month now.
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