West Bengal Govt rejects medics’ demands, standoff persists
The West Bengal Government on Wednesday rejected junior doctors’ demands for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s presence and a live broadcast as preconditions for talks to resolve the month-long ‘cease work’ and standoff over the alleged rape-murder of a woman medic at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Amid the 33rd day of protests and a sit-in outside Swasthya Bhawan for the second day, Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya said the government remained open to discussions but suggested that “political forces” might be influencing the protests. This led to a quick rebuttal from the medics, who dismissed the claims as baseless, and asserted that the protests would continue till their demands were met.
The minister urged the doctors to rejoin work by respecting the Supreme Court's direction to them, but refrained from giving a direct reply on whether the state government would take any punitive action for violating the apex court's order.
The authorities of RG Kar Hospital deferred the hearing of 51 doctors accused of fostering intimidation and undermining the institution’s democratic environment, with the next hearing before an inquiry committee likely on Friday, an official said.
