Kolkata: In the wake of the recent death of a young doctor at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has once again urged the protesting junior doctors to end their strike. The Chief Minister appealed directly to the protesters, asking them to return to work.
Mamata Banerjee expressed her willingness to consider the demands of the protesters, stating that more time was needed to address their concerns. She emphasized that the police officials whose resignation the doctors are demanding are not her friends and that a proper investigation requires time. She described her plea as a final effort to persuade the doctors to resume their duties.
“You are all like my siblings. Please return to work. We have already started work on improving basic facilities in hospitals. As a Chief Minister, and as an elder sister, I will address your issues. I cannot force you, but I can only request. I undertook a hunger strike for 26 days when the CPI(M) was in power, and no one looked at me then. I will not take any action against you. We are not the Uttar Pradesh police. We want you back to work. Please consider this carefully,” Mamata Banerjee said.
She also addressed the interruption of the scheduled meeting between the protesters and the government, explaining that the meeting could not be broadcast live due to technical constraints. The government’s refusal to allow a live broadcast led to the doctors’ withdrawal from the meeting.
“Arrangements were made to record the meeting with the doctors on video. It could have been shared with permission from the Supreme Court. The refusal for live broadcasting was due to the case being under judicial consideration,” Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday after waiting for over two hours for the meeting to begin.
