Mamata Banerjee suggested night-time vigilance, and nodal police officer for every hospital, during her meet with protesting junior doctors in Kolkata. She also said that five people have been arrested so far in NRS hospital incident.
Backtracking on her promise to allow media coverage of the meeting with protesting doctors, Mamata Banerjee on Monday has allowed only ABP Ananda inside the meeting.
The junior doctors on strike at NRS hospital in Kolkata have reached at Nabanna, the state Secretariat, to meet Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Mamata Banerjee has finally agreed to meet the protesting junior doctors of NRS hospital in Kolkata in the presence of media. Earlier, she had said she was not comfortable with holding the meeting with reporters present, but the protesting doctors were firm on their demand, reported News18.
Dr PK Mitra, the Director of Medical Education of the West Bengal government, has arrived at NRS hospital in Kolkata to meet the junior doctors on protest. Referring to their demand for the presence of national media at the meeting with Mamata Banerjee, he said he had already communicated their stand to the chief minister and “no new conditions can be met now”.
Junior doctors are likely to boycott the 3 pm meeting with Mamata Banerjee even if it is recorded. The protesting doctors doctors in West Bengal specifically want the national media to be present at the meeting.
Several doctors in Goa boycotted work on Monday and held a silent protest march in Panaji. In Maharashtra, over 40,000 doctors boycotted work as part of the IMA’s strike. In Odisha, OPD services were hit, but emergency wards functioned normally.
Mamata Banerjee has agreed to hold a “recorded” meeting with the junior doctors of NRS hospital on strike. The Director of Medical Education said, “The discussion and resolutions taken in this meeting shall be recorded and duly communicated to you.”
Due to the ongoing countrywide doctors’ strike, the government has cancelled the leaves of all doctors employed at Central government hospitals and asked them to return to duty immediately. The Central government doctors have been asked to come back to work to deal with the crisis, reports said.
The junior doctors on strike in West Bengal have rejected Mamata Banerjee’s request for a closed-door meeting at state Secretariat Nabanna. At the general body meeting of junior doctors of Kolkata’s NRS hospital, they decided to not attend the meeting with the chief minister at 3 pm.
The PIL the Supreme Court will hear tomorrow seeks directions to the Union ministries of home affairs and health and the West Bengal administration to depute government-appointed security personnel at all state-run hospitals in India to ensure safety and security of doctors.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a PIL tomorrow (Tuesday) on the ongoing doctors’ strike across the country. The plea, filed by one Ashok Srivastata, seeks legal protection for doctors against assaults, like the one faced by junior doctors at NRS hospital in Kolkata, which triggered the strike.
The contention between the protesting doctors in West Bengal and Mamata Banerjee is now on the presence of media at the planned meeting. Medicos want the meeting to be held in the presence of media, but the chief minister is “not comfortable” with it.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) will hold a nationwide protest on Monday against the beating of doctors in West Bengal, said Dr Ranjan Sharma, president of the doctors’ national body, on Sunday.
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