RG Kar case: Meeting between doctors' association, Bengal Chief Secy ends without conclusion

The meeting between representatives of 12 doctors' associations and West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant on Monday regarding the impasse over demands raised in the aftermath of the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital here ended without any conclusion.

"The state government has refused to give us any written assurance regarding the fulfilment of the 10-point demand of the junior doctors. The state government is asking the junior doctors to bring back normalcy. But that will not be possible unless the state government gives any written assurance about their demands," a doctors' representative told mediapersons after the meeting.

Another representative questioned that with those accused of backing the "threat culture" in medical colleges and hospitals in the state roaming freely and corrupt people occupying important positions in the state healthcare system, "how does the state government expect the junior doctors to go back to normal functioning"?

"The role of the police is also quite doubtful. How can the state government expect everything to be normal in such a situation?" he wondered.

Meanwhile, sources aware of the developments in the meeting said that the Chief Secretary said that already seven demands from the protesting doctors have been fulfilled.

At the same time, Pant told the representatives of the doctors' association that the timeline for meeting the remaining demands cannot be specified by the state government immediately, sources said.

The doctors' association representatives also requested the state government to immediately remove Trinamool Congress legislator, Sudipto Roy, who is himself a medical practitioner, as a member of the West Bengal Health Recruitment Board.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials, who are conducting a probe in the case of financial irregularities at R.G. Kar, have already questioned Roy in this connection, besides conducting raids and search operations at his residence and nursing home.

The doctors' association representatives also clearly said that they will conduct the scheduled human-chain protest demonstration on Tuesday evening.

"We have invited the Chief Secretary and Home Secretary Nandini Chakraborty to be present at the human-chain demonstration. They have accepted our invitation. We will be waiting for them," said a representative of a doctors' association.