RG Kar stalemate: Doctors to continue strike after 2nd round of talks with govt fail

Kolkata, Sep 19 (PTI) The second round of talks between junior doctors and the West Bengal government to break their strike remained "inconclusive" as the medics claimed they were "unhappy" with the outcome and will continue with their agitation and cease work movement.

The talks, which were held on the 40th day of the strike, failed to resolve the impasse following the state government's refusal to hand over written minutes of the talks, the doctors claimed. The doctors said that although the government agreed with them on several points and gave "verbal assurances," they were not given the minutes of the meeting despite several requests.

The government did however issue unsigned minutes of the meeting later.

"We are not happy with the outcome of the meeting. Although the state government agreed with a lot of issues regarding safety and security in hospitals, they did not give us any concrete assurances," said a doctor after coming out of the meeting at Nabanna.

The West Bengal government had on Wednesday invited the junior doctors agitating over the RG Kar rape-murder incident for a meeting at the state secretariat at 6.30 pm, responding to their request for a fresh round of talks.

Unlike Monday, when Banerjee headed the delegation, the meeting on Wednesday was headed by Chief Secretary Manoj Pant.

"The talks are inconclusive. The meeting with the Chief Minister on Monday was held on a positive note, but today's meeting was not at all positive. We have been asked to provide a draft of our other demands to the Chief Secretary, and then they will look into it," said another doctor.

The medics were accompanied by stenographers to record the minutes of the meeting – just as they were to the Monday meeting with CM Banerjee at her Kalighat residence.

The doctors said they want to resume their work but only after "concrete and visible steps" are taken by the government to address their demands.

According to the minutes of the meeting released by the West Bengal government after Wednesday's talks, the junior doctors have demanded the formation of an inquiry committee against the Principal Health Secretary for alleged misconduct over the past 4-5 years, which include fostering a health syndicate.

According to the minutes, the government requested the medics to send 4-5 representatives to the state task force on safety and security, but the doctors proposed a broader representation from all medical colleges.

"Both parties agreed to implement a central directive for deploying female police officers for night patrols, installing panic buttons by department, and establishing helplines for prompt intervention," read the minutes.

The protesters highlighted issues of safety and security inside state-run hospitals, as well as details of the formulation and functions of the promised task force headed by the Chief Secretary, as the agenda for the proposed meeting.

According to the minutes of the Monday meeting, there is a mutual agreement to set up a task force to tackle medics' safety concerns, including that of "persistence of threat culture" towards students and trainees from senior officials at the state-run hospitals.

The medics will now continue with their sit-in before the state health department headquarters – 'Swasthya Bhawan' – where they have been sitting for the past nine days, until their conditions for talks are met.

Earlier, giving in to the medics' demands, Banerjee transferred Kolkata Police Chief Vineet Goyal and appointed Manoj Kumar Verma in his place, and also removed two senior health department officials. PTI