On Thursday, September 12, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said that in the interest of the people, she is ready to step down. CM Mamata Banerjee made this statement amid the raging protest by Doctors in Kolkata. She said, “I apologise to the people of Bengal who expected an end to the RG Kar impasse today…I am ready to resign from my post for the sake of people. I don’t want the chair, I want justice (for the deceased) and treatment for the people (patients).”
However, she accused the doctors of wanting power and said that she would have resigned if they wanted justice. The CM made the comments after the protesting doctors refused to attend the scheduled meeting with her as the West Bengal govt rejected the demand to livestream the meeting. She said that while she respects the movement and is even willing to step down to ensure justice for the people, she believes the protesting doctors are not seeking justice but power.
Mamata Banerjee said, “I respect the movement. I’m even willing to step down for the sake of justice for the common people. But they don’t seek justice they only want power. I’m ready to quit for justice”.
Kolkata, West Bengal: CM Mamata Banerjee says, "I respect the movement. I'm even willing to step down for the sake of justice for the common people. But they don’t seek justice they only want power. I'm ready to quit for justice" pic.twitter.com/KoGMlQsgMe
— IANS (@ians_india) September 12, 2024
Mamata Banerjee said, “I tried my best to sit with the junior doctors. I waited 3 days for them that they should have come and settle their problem. Even when they didn’t accept the verdict of the Supreme Court, I waited 3 days with my highest officials, including Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, DG and my MoS. I am sorry. I apologize to the people of this country and the world who are supporting them (doctors), please give your support. I don’t have any problem. We want justice for the victim. We want justice for the common people. We want justice for the treatment of common people. We want that, as per Supreme Court instruction, they must join their duty. Though, 3 days passed after the Supreme Court verdict but we are not taking any disciplinary action because sometimes we have to tolerate. It is our duty to tolerate sometimes.”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also urged the protesting doctors to return to work.
Earlier, Bengal government denied protesting doctors’ demand for live streaming of the discussion saying that live-streaming won’t be possible as demanded by protesting doctors as the case was subjudice.
West Bengal CM said, “We were waiting for the doctors for 2 hours 10 minutes. We had urged the protesting doctors to come with an open mind. The deadlock can be resolved through talks only. In the last two days also, we waited for 2 hours. Our work is to forgive them. Today Chief Secretary wrote that the delegation should come to ensure the smooth running of the healthcare infrastructure in the state. The same cannot be contrary to the direction passed by SC for resumption of work as such direction binds the state. Today the meeting was of safety of doctors. We are open-minded about live streaming but the matter is subjudice. We had mentioned that it would be recorded but live-streaming won’t be possible.”
She further said that after the meeting they could have conducted a joint press conference to resolve the impasse.
“We expected that they would come. We will not take any action as we are elders and it is our duty to forgive them. We had mentioned that 15 representatives came come but 34 delegates came. We allowed everyone but they did not enter the hall. For an open discussion, we did not invite anyone else from the health department. Already 27 people have died. More than 7 lakh people are not getting service. It has been 32 days and junior doctors and many residential doctors are not working. There are 1500 serious cases,” she further said.
“We have built 43 super-speciality hospitals. We had built a transit camp waiting hut for difficult terrain. Many people are dead in homes without treatment. SC said that after the deadline, the state can take action. Still, we called them. Many senior doctors are working under difficult conditions. Today we were hoping for a breakthrough. We have again forgiven them,” she added.
The second-year postgraduate medical student was raped and murdered inside the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is investigating the rape and murder of the 31-year-old trainee doctor at the Hospital, as ordered by the Calcutta High Court.
(With inputs from ANI)
