Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday began the most-awaited meeting with the agitating medics at her Kalighat residence to resolve the ongoing long-drown RG Kar impasse. They concluded the meeting after two hours of deliberations and began finalising the minutes of their minutes late on Monday night.
A 35-strong delegation of doctors took part in the talks with the chief minister. The meeting began at around 6.50 pm and the medics finally sat down for talks with CM Mamata after the West Bengal government invited them for the meeting for the final time.
The previous attempts by CM Mamata to resolve the issue by initiating talks got stuck due to the state government's rejection of the doctors' demand for live-streaming and video recordings of the meeting.
The agitating medics later agreed to a compromise, now only asking to record the minutes of the meeting and receive a signed copy. The state government accepted this condition, with Chief Secretary Manoj Pant saying both parties would sign the minutes of the meeting and share copies for transparency.
Meanwhile, the doctors continued their sit-in outside Swasthya Bhawan, the headquarters of the state Health Department, for eight days and the 'cease work' for the 36th day seeking justice for the doctor who was raped and murdered at state-owned RG Kar Hospital and removal of Kolkata Police Commissioner and senior state health officials.
On Saturday, Banerjee made a surprise visit to the protest site and assured the doctors of addressing their demands. However, the proposed meeting fell through when the protesters claimed they were asked to leave "unceremoniously" after waiting for three hours at the gates of Banerjee's residence.
