Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, met with junior physicians on Saturday to voice their protests about the rape and killing of a trainee physician at a hospital outside her residence in Kolkata. She invited them to participate in negotiations to address the issue that had prompted protests around the country.
Disagreements about recording the meeting between Mamata Banerjee and the physicians who are protesting the rape and death of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital prevented the meeting from happening for the second time this week.
“Today, you said you wanted a meeting with me,” Mamata Banerjee said to the demonstrating physicians who were waiting outside her house in the rain, clearly frustrated by the delay. I had been waiting since I agreed. Do not disrespect me in this way, please. I waited for you for two hours earlier, but you didn’t show up.” If the physicians refused to meet with her, the chief minister invited them to take a cup of tea at her home.
“The Chief Secretary, the Home Secretary, and the Director General of Police (DGP) are all here waiting for you. We have handed you umbrellas to prevent you from getting wet in the rain. Additionally, we have plans in place for you to sit indoors. If you don’t want to talk to me, then come inside and at least take a cup of tea,” Mamata Banerjee urged. The Chief Minister stated that this requirement was not included in the letter and that lawyers are presently investigating the situation in response to the physicians’ demands that the meeting be recorded.
“Your desire for the meeting to be livestreamed was not indicated anywhere in the letter. However, I can guarantee that we will record everything, and I will give you a copy. “I’ll ensure that the meeting’s video isn’t made public until the Supreme Court gives its approval,” she said. She talked about the difficulty of fitting so many physicians into her house and security worries about permitting filming.
Mamata Banerjee had paid an unannounced visit to the doctors’ protest at Salt Lake’s Swasthya Bhavan and asked them to get back to work as soon as possible. She termed it her “last attempt” to end the issue and pledged to comply with their demands. In addition, she gave her word that the physicians would not face any consequences, saying that “Bengal was not like Uttar Pradesh.”
“I’m not going to do anything to you. This place isn’t Uttar Pradesh. The Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) had been put into effect, and many strikes and demonstrations had been put down. But don’t worry, I won’t take any action of that kind. You do a wonderful job, I know that,” she had said.
Following her unexpected visit to their protest location, Mamata Banerjee was warmly received by the physicians, and the Chief Minister extended an invitation for a meeting at her home at 6:00 p.m. Since Tuesday, physicians have been staging protests outside Swasthya Bhavan, calling for the ouster of top officials and more security at state-run hospitals in the wake of the rape and murder of a trainee physician at RG Kar Hospital.
The state administration declined to allow the physicians and Mamata Banerjee to have a live-streamed meeting on Thursday. The physicians arrived for the meeting, but it did not happen despite the Chief Minister’s two-hour wait at the state headquarters in Nabanna. It was at that point that Mamata Banerjee declared herself “ready to give up her position for the sake of the people.”
