'Your Delegation May Visit...': Mamata Invites Junior Doctors, They Flag ‘Insult’

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee's invitation to junior doctors for a meeting at Nabanna was met with backlash, as the protesting doctors flagged it as an 'insult' and vowed to continue their strike.

Picture source: PTI

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has been under fire from the opposition for the past month over the TMC’s handling of a Kolkata doctor’s alleged rape and murder case. In an attempt to address the growing unrest, Mamata invited the protesting junior doctors for a meeting at the state secretariat, Nabanna, on Tuesday to resolve the impasse.

"Your small delegation (maximum 10 persons) may visit ‘Nabanna’ now to meet government representatives," PTI cited an email sent by the state’s Health Secretary N S Nigam to the agitating medics. 

Meanwhile, West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya stated that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is currently waiting in her office for the delegation of junior doctors to arrive for the scheduled meeting. 

"The chief minister has been waiting at her chamber... We are yet to get any reply from them," Bhattacharya said. 

Junior Doctors Response To Mamata’s Meeting Call 

One of the agitating junior doctors expressed dissatisfaction after receiving a communication from the state health secretary, rather than from the state secretariat, regarding the RG Kar hospital issue. "Receiving the mail from Nigam is an 'insult for us,' as we have been seeking his resignation," the doctor told reporters. 

"We did not get any mail from the state secretariat. We got the mail from the state health secretary, whose resignation we seek. This is an insult," he stated. 

The medic further described the state's decision to limit the number of representatives for the meeting to 10 as ‘humiliating.’ 

"Our protests and our ‘cease work’ will continue," the demonstrating doctor said. 

Junior doctors across West Bengal have been on a 'cease work' protest at state-run hospitals, demanding justice for a young doctor who was allegedly raped and murdered last month at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.