West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday (September 12) offered to resign “for the sake of the people” and expressed her desire for justice for the doctor murdered at RG Kar Hospital. “I apologise to the people of Bengal who expected an end to the RG Kar impasse today. They (junior doctors) came to Nabanna but did not sit for the meeting. I request them to go back to work,” Banerjee told a press conference.
“I am ready to resign for the sake of the people as, despite my best intentions and efforts in the last three days, the medics declined to hold talks,” the chief minister said.
Agitating doctors’s meeting with CM at 5 pm
The statement comes hours after efforts to break the deadlock between protesting junior doctors and the West Bengal government stalled when the doctors refused to participate in talks with CM Banerjee unless their demand for a live-streamed meeting was fulfilled.
The doctors, who have been protesting the alleged rape and murder of a female colleague at RG Kar Medical College, arrived at the venue around 5:25 pm. They spent over an hour outside the gates in a tense standoff with government officials.
Mamata Banerjee, who had agreed to meet with the doctors as part of ongoing efforts to end their strike, waited inside the venue for over an hour. Although the state government assured that the meeting would be recorded for transparency, the doctors insisted on a live broadcast of the proceedings.
‘Live streaming not feasible’
The state’s Chief Secretary, Manoj Pant, had previously stated that live streaming was not feasible but assured that a full video recording of the meeting would be provided.
“The chief minister has been waiting for over an hour and a half. We have tried to explain to the doctors that their demand for a live stream cannot be met, but we are ready to document the entire session. There should be a limit to such demands,” Pant informed and urged the doctors to reconsider their stance.
The meeting was intended to address the doctors’ concerns regarding the handling of the case involving the death of their colleague. The body of the 31-year-old trainee doctor was discovered with severe injuries on August 9, which caused widespread outrage within the medical community and triggered a state-wide protest that has significantly disrupted healthcare services at government hospitals.