Impasse continues as junior doctors stick to 'live telecast of talks' demand

After a 30-member delegation of West Bengal Junior Doctors Forum (WBJDF) reached state Secretariat Nabanna on Thursday for talks with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on their demands over the R.G. Kar rape and murder case, uncertainty continued over the meeting on the medics' demand to live telecast it.

Although the state government agreed to allow the 30-member delegation for the meeting instead of the cap of 15 put by it earlier, the junior doctors are unwilling to budge from their demand to live telecast the talks. The state government, on its part, has offered to record the meeting "to maintain transparency".

In his email inviting the protesting doctors for talks on Thursday, Chief Secretary Manoj Pant had made it clear that the state government will not accept the junior medics' demand to live telecast the meeting, but offered to record it for the sake of maintaining transparency. 

"This will serve the purpose intended from your end while also ensuring all discussions are accurately documented," Pant wrote in the email, as he called on a delegation of no more than 15 to meet the Chief Minister.

However, the delegation members are adamant on their stand to livestream the meeting.

“Before heading to the Secretariat, we made it clear that unless the two conditions -- a 30-member delegation and live telecast of the meeting -- are agreed to by the state government, we will not join the talks. We are sticking to our stand.

"All administrative meetings of the Chief Minister are telecast live. Even there is live telecast of the proceedings of the Supreme Court and different high courts. The entire country is curious to know what transpires in the meeting. So we have decided not to sit across the discussion table unless permission is given to live telecast the meeting,” said a member of the junior doctors' delegation.

The protesting doctors had set a few conditions for the meeting, including sending a 30-member delegation, meeting to be held in the presence of the Chief Minister, live telecast of the meeting for transparency, and the five-point demand which they have been pressing for since the beginning.

One of the major demands in the five-point agenda is suspension of the state Health Secretary, Director of Health Services, and Director of Medical Education.

On Monday, the Supreme Court had said that doctors in West Bengal protesting against the R.G. Kar rape-murder must resume their duties by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, failing which the state government will be authorised to initiate disciplinary action against them.

However, unnerved by the Supreme Court's ultimatum, the junior doctors vowed to continue their agitation and gave a call to march to the Swasthya Bhavan on Tuesday afternoon. The deadlock over talks between the protesters and the state administration has continued since then.