CM offer for meet opens option for talks: Sr docs

Kolkata: Veteran doctors looked ahead with hope even as they hailed chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s visit to Swasthya Bhavan on Saturday afternoon, where junior doctors have been staging agitation, and later invited them for a talk at her Kalighat home in the evening. The move helped break the deadlock and opened up an avenue for discussion, which looked lost as the doctors chose to stick to their demand for livestreaming, they said.
Sourav Datta of IMA West Bengal said the chief minister’s gesture was welcome and threw open discussions yet again after it fell through at Nabanna.“We are still hopeful that the CM will address the junior doctors’ five demands, which have been the points of contention and the situation will return to normal,” said Datta even as the agitating doctors interacted with Banerjee in front of her residence amid pouring rain.
IPGMER professor Diptendra Sarkar said discussions were the best thing that could happen now to help diffuse the tension. “The agitation has been carrying on for too long and it was heartening the CM came forward and offered to talk to junior doctors. If India and Pakistan can sit and talk across the table and thrash things out, anyone can and that is the way ahead. While the doctors’ demands should be looked into, we must remember the primary goal should be to secure justice for the rape-and-murder victim,” said Sarkar, urging the state and police to cooperate with the CBI to ensure the case was solved soon.
Sajal Biwas of Service Doctors’ Forum, too, welcomed the CM’s initiative to break the ice. “It would have been nice, though, if the CM discussed their five demands with junior doctors. Nonetheless, honouring the CM’s gesture and considering the health issues of the public, even if the junior doctors end their cease-work. Movement for justice and their other demands, will continue in some form of the other,” said Biswas.
A private hospital surgeon who has been part of the agitation said it was time for “a settlement”. “Both the govt and doctors have their issues and they are legitimate from their viewpoints. But the purpose of the agitation is to solve the issues and rid the health system of whatever is ailing it. Whether it’s the doctors’ demand for livestreaming or the govt’s insistence on not allowing it, I think ego is coming in the way. This barrier has to be crossed and the CM’s call for a meeting was a step towards that,” he said.
Manas Gumta of Joint Platform of Doctors, Bengal, said the CM’s visit was a “good gesture”. “But she did not say anything about the five-point demands and it was disheartening. While reformation in Rogi Kalyan Samiti is good, it is important to pay attention to junior doctors’ demands.”