R G Kar Medical College And Hospital

Mamata Banerjee visits the site of the doctors' protest "Last Attempt To Resolve Crisis

Ms. Banerjee told the physicians to go back to work, promising that the government would consider their requests.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee surprised everyone on Saturday by visiting the location of the doctors' sit-in and speaking with them, attempting to break the standoff between her administration and the protesting physicians. 

The physicians started a sit-in outside Swasthya Bhavan, the West Bengal health department headquarters, on Tuesday. They have been protesting since a trainee doctor was sexually assaulted and killed at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata last month. Since then, attempts have been made to have a conversation between the physicians and the state administration, but they have been put on hold, most recently because demonstrators want the meeting to be streamed live.

When Ms. Banerjee arrived at the protest location on Saturday, she asked to speak with the doctors in a conciliatory manner. She stated, "Please listen to me for five minutes and then shout slogans; it is your democratic right to do so," in Bengali as people began to yell slogans. I've been holding off for quite some time. I have defied the advice of my security guards and come here to applaud your protests. I am aware that your voice matters more than my post, yet I have also participated in student movements. All night long, it poured, and you were hurt. I was feeling horrible, therefore I was unable to sleep either."

She acknowledged that the doctors had been in protest for more than a month and asked them to get back to work, promising the administration would listen to their concerns.

"I don't manage the government alone, but I will research the requests. I am going to address the director general of police, the home secretary, and the chief secretary. If someone is proven guilty, they will face consequences. Tilottama, the name given to the woman who was raped and killed, deserves justice. I will ask the CBI to expedite the probe from your platform. Please give me some time to think about your requests. She gave the doctors her word that she would investigate their requests if they approached her with trust. She urged the demonstrators to go back to work, saying that many patients had died as a result of receiving inadequate care and that their families were concerned about them.

"This represents my final effort to address the situation... I will investigate your grievances if you continue to put your trust in me. Tuesday is the next hearing in the matter before the Supreme Court, which had given the physicians till September 10 to resume their jobs. I wish you no suffering. Not as your chief minister, but as your "didi" (big sister), I have come to ask for something. I understand, and I agree with your complaint. "I participated in a 26-day hunger strike to oppose the purchase of farmland in Singur, but nobody from the previous administration reached out to me," Ms. Banerjee continued.

The physicians had been called to a meeting by the West Bengal government on Tuesday, but they had turned it down since the health secretary, whose resignation they are demanding, had sent the invitation. The discussion should revolve around the doctors' five demands, be live-televised, and permit them to send a delegation of at least thirty people, according to the doctors' four main demands on Wednesday. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should also be present.

One of the five demands made by the physicians is that Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, be held accountable for the rape, murder, and any evidence destruction. He should also face stern disciplinary punishment. Along with demanding proper security measures for healthcare workers and the resignation of Health Secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam and Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal, they have also worked to end the "threat culture" that permeates government healthcare facilities.