After meeting doctors, Mamata Banerjee shunts Kolkata top cop, 2 senior health officers
Times of India | 17 September 2024
KOLKATA: Five weeks of protests triggered by the Aug 9 rape-murder at Kolkata's RG Kar hospital culminated late Monday in Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee yielding to the protesting junior doctors' demand for the removal of four top officials - Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal, DCP (North) Abhishek Gupta, director of medical education Kaustuv Nayek, and director of health services Debashis Haldar - after a meeting lasting a shade over two hours.
Mamata announced the "breakthrough" in talks with a 42-strong delegation at her residence in Kolkata's Kalighat shortly after the junior doctors left around midnight, saying the govt had acceded to "some of our demands".
The CM said the state govt expects junior doctors of state-run hospitals - on cease-work since Aug 9 - to now return to work "for the people's sake".
Return to work for people’s sake: Mamata to junior docs
I saluted them for their agitation and am happy with the outcome of the meeting,” Mamata told reporters. “They raised several issues and we gave our views, but tried to listen to their demands as much as possible. They are much younger. So, we tried to accord as much importance to their demands as possible after starting the meeting.” “Their first demand was justice for the crime,” the CM said, adding that the focus was now on CBI as it was probing the crime.
“They had four other demands, the first being the removal of the director of medical education, director of health services and the health secretary. I told them that the administration would not function if all of them were removed at the same time. So, we have decided to remove DME Kaustuv Nayek and DHS Debashis Haldar,” Mamata said.
“Both had just taken up these assignments. But the students were very angry and did not have faith in them. So, they will be moved from their posts.” The CM said city police chief Goyal would hand over charge to his successor after 4pm Tuesday. “Vineet has agreed to move to a post he wants. I have told the doctors that the police work for the government and so we have to look after them as well,” she said.
Another of the doctors' demands — safety and security deployment at hospitals and medical colleges — would be given “full importance”, the CM said. “The meeting ended on a positive note. So they signed the minutes,” she said, referring to the doctors. “Our appeal to them is go and and discuss these issues with your friends but do return to work for people’s sake,” Mamata said.
Monday’s meeting followed a few hours after Nabanna’s “fifth and final” invite to the junior doctors and came just a day before the Supreme Court would be convening for the fourth time to hear various litigations on the RG Kar rape and murder and connected issues.
The junior doctors reached her Kalighat residence around 6.25pm after a four-hour general body meeting, which followed meetings at individual medical colleges. There was no demand for live-streaming, but two stenographers accompanied the 42 junior doctors.
The email from Nabanna, which went from chief secretary Manoj Pant’s office, mentioned that this was the last invite from the state govt and made it clear that there would be no live-streaming or videography of the meet as the matter was being heard by SC.
The state secretariat said minutes of the meeting could be recorded and signed by both parties. The doctors’ general body meeting agreed that “minutes with full transcript” would suffice. The meeting at the CM’s Kalighat home started at 6.40pm.