'Ready to resign': CM Banerjee says as junior doctors protest continues

Kolkata: Protesting junior doctors in Kolkata continued their sit-in demonstration near Swasthya Bhawan in the Salt Lake Area, demanding justice for the postgraduate doctor trainee who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College Hospital in Kolkata, even an incessant rain lashed the city.

The protest was held near Swasthya Bhawan in the Salt Lake Area of Kolkata city as doctors chanted slogans demanding justice for the victim. On Thursday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged the protesting doctors to return to work, adding that she has no greed for her CM post, but is more concerned about justice for the RG Kar rape-murder victim and treatment for ordinary citizens.

"Rain, heat, earthquakes will not be able to stop our protest till we get justice for Abhaya and our other demands are fulfilled. We are here for a noble cause and no force will be able to stop us from getting that," Aniket Mahato, one of the agitating doctors, told PTI.

"But if someone thinks we are rigid, stubborn then that is absolutely a wrong thing, they must have something in their mind. We are doctors and not politicians. There is no politics and only demand to cleanse the health system," another agitating doctor Soumya Chakraborty said.

Principals, Directors and Medical Superintendent cum Vice-Principal (MSVPs) of all Medical College and Hospitals of the state were invited to this meeting. All Commissioners of Police and District Magistrates and the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) of all districts were invited to this meeting.

They have also written to President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi apart from Union Health Minister JP Nadda to intervene in the matter to expedite the investigation.

As per a media report in TOI, putting onus on the doctors who did not turn up for the meeting at 5 pm, Mamata said, "27 people have died, 7 lakh patients are suffering because of junior doctors' cease work. I tried thrice to hold talks. We have been waiting for over two hours to meet our doctor brothers and sister who were invited here. We wrote them a letter and they wrote us back assuring that they will come... Only after receiving the 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''.

"I am still saying that I will not take any action against them for not coming and making us wait for two hours. I will forgive them because being elders, it is our responsibility to forgive our younger ones," the CM added.

The second-year postgraduate medical student was raped and murdered inside the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College on August 9.