Kolkata: Protesting doctors reject second offer for talks with state government, set new conditions
Chief Secretary Manoj Pant said that the state government was disheartened by the response of the junior doctors who have been on strike for over a month.
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Junior doctors protesting against the rape and murder of their colleague at a Kolkata hospital in August rejected a second offer for talks from the West Bengal government on Wednesday, The Hindu reported.
They also put forward fresh conditions for holding talks with the government, including that the meeting be held in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and that it be telecast live on news channels.
In response, Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya questioned if the protesting doctors were “guided by politics” and asked if they really wanted justice for their colleague.
The 31-year-old trainee doctor was raped and murdered at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.
The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front has been leading protests for over a month seeking the resignation of the Kolkata police commissioner and senior state health department officials.
On Tuesday, the doctors defied a Supreme Court order directing them to end their strike and resume their duties by 5 pm that day. They said they would protest till their demands were met.
The court had warned the doctors that they may face disciplinary action if did not resume work by the deadline.
The same day, the protestors also rejected an offer from the state government for talks, objecting to an invitation that sought to restrict the number of representatives who could...
