Mamata Banerjee speaks to fasting doctors over phone, calls meet on Monday | Kolkata

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Saturday that she would hold talks with the junior doctors at the state secretariat on Monday to put an end to the ongoing impasse while urging the medics to withdraw their hunger strike.

“If you want to talk with me at the earliest, I will cancel some of my appointments, and meet you at 5pm in the state secretariat on Monday. But at the most 10 representatives may come,” Banerjee told junior doctors over phone.

This comes a day after doctors, in all private and government hospitals across West Bengal, threatened to go on a health-strike on Tuesday if the state government refuses to meet their demands, related to strengthening security and infrastructure in hospitals, by Monday.

“I request you to withdraw the hunger strike. I am giving you, my word. I will try my level best and do whatever is possible for the government. But this muscle-flexing by you, is also not right,” she said.

At present seven junior doctors are holding a fast-unto-death in Kolkata while one medic is holding a hunger strike in north Bengal. At least six doctors fell ill over the past one week and had to be admitted in various hospitals.

The state’s chief secretary and the home secretary went to the medics’ protest site on Saturday afternoon and held a discussion. Later Banerjee spoke to the doctors over phone.

“The hunger strike will end when the state government meets our demands,” Dr Parichay Panda, one of the junior doctors who joined the hunger strike on October 11, told the chief minister over phone.

“You are like our guardian. If you think that a solution is possible, only then the impasse will end,” one of the junior doctors said over phone.

“Why isn’t it possible? There is nothing in the world which is impossible. But if one side is rigid then it won’t be possible. Both sides need to be liberal,” Banerjee said.

The alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor on August 9 at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata triggered a nation-wide uproar and junior doctors in West Bengal started a cease work which continued for 41 days. They later joined work but started a hunger strike from October 5, alleging that the government has not met their demands.

“A team of junior doctors will go to Nabanna on Monday and meet the chief minister. We want the government to issue directives to meet our demands. If the government is willing these directives can easily be issued.

The doctors have placed a set of 10 demands before the government, including justice for the RG Kar Hospital victim, removal of state health secretary, a centralised referral system, digital bed vacancy monitors in all hospitals, task forces in every medical colleges with elected representation of junior doctors, deployment of police in hospitals, filling up of vacancies in hospitals, holding election of student councils, college-level enquiry committees to probe into allegations of threat culture and probe into the alleged corruption in the state medical council.

Last week, Manoj Pant, state chief secretary had said: “Of the 10 demands junior doctors raised, the state is implementing seven. We urge them to end the hunger strike and return to work.”