West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday offered to resign as the standoff with protesting junior doctors over the Kolkata doctor rape-murder case continued.
“For people’s sake, I am ready to resign. I am not concerned about the post. I want justice, I am only concerned about justice getting served,” Mamata said while addressing the media on the deadlock with the doctors, Times of India reports.
A meeting with the protesting doctores was set for 5pm on Thursday at Nabanna's conference hall to restore normalcy in healthcare services. However, it was canceled as the doctor’s delegation refused to attend the meeting.
Talking about the meeting’s cancellation, 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 sisters who were invited here.”
She added: “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 doctors’ delegation arrived at the secretariat gate for the scheduled meeting but refused to enter because the government had denied one of their key demands: a live broadcast of the proceedings, NDTV reports.
Mamata had stated that the government could not permit live transmission as the issue is currently being heard by the Supreme Court.
The meeting was intended to address the doctors’ concerns regarding the handling of the case involving their colleague’s rape and murder. The 31-year-old trainee doctor was found dead with severe injuries on August 9, igniting outrage within the medical community.
The protesting doctors have called for multiple resignations, including Kolkata police Chief Vineet Goyal and two senior health department officials, and have firmly stated they will not back down until their demands are fulfilled.
The case reached the Supreme Court but handling the protesting doctors has been left to the state government. Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the rape-murder case and financial irregularities at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.