Amid deadlock in talks with junior doctors protesting over the Kolkata rape and murder case, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has offered to resign.
The junior doctors are agitating over the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College last month. The Mamata government had invited a 15-member delegation of protesting doctors for talks at 5 pm at the state secretariat Nabanna for talks, but the doctors refused the invitation.
The doctors refused to hold talks with Mamata as they were not allowed to livestream the meeting and the size of the delegation was limited to 15 whereas they wanted it to be 30. They continued to hold a protest near the state’s health department headquarters in Kolkata.
After the doctors did not turn for talks for more than two overs, Mamata in an address said all she wanted was justice and she was ready to resign.
“I am ready to resign from my post for the sake of people. I don’t want the chair, I want justice (for the deceased) and treatment for the people (patients),” said Mamata in Bangla, as per PTI.
Mamata also offered an apology with folded hands and went on to request doctors to return to work to serve the people of the state.
‘We waited for over 2 hours’
In her address, Mamata said she waited for more than two hours to meet the delegation of junior doctors.
Mamata said that the invitation letter was sent only after receiving the confirmation and yet there has not been any communication from the doctors’ end for more than two hours. She stressed the doctors should come to the negotiating table with an open mind.
“We wrote them a letter and they wrote us back assuring that they will come… Only after receiving their confirmation, we invited them but it’s been two hours and there is no communication from them yet. We asked them to come with an open mind and talk about any issue. Solutions can only be found through dialogues,” said Mamata, as per PTI.
Mamata further said that as the matter is in the court, it is not possible to livestream discussions related to it.
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