Bowing to a spiralling junior doctors’ ceasework protest over the brutal RG Kar Hospital rape and murder and its alleged cover-up, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday night announced to remove Kolkata’s Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and Deputy Commissioner (DC) North Abhishek Gupta besides two other health officials after a marathon meeting with the medics at her residence.
After days of high drama, the long-awaited meeting between the two sides materialised on Monday evening stretching for nearly five hours till midnight.
Speaking to reporters outside her Kalighat residence, Banerjee said: “Since they are unhappy with the police, we have agreed to remove Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal. He will be entrusted with the role of his choice as he himself wants to recuse himself from this post. He will step down at 4 PM on Tuesday and the new CP will be announced.”
“The DC North will be removed as well,” she said, noting that these removals of senior police officials was one of their 5-point demands.
Banerjee also announced the removal of two health officials
– Director of Health Services (DHS) and Director of Medical Service (DMS).
“Besides this, we will take measures to enhance the safety and security of the hospitals,” the CM announced.
“We accepted three demands and requested them to join the work so that commoners do not suffer amid a spike in dengue cases in Kolkata. I urge them to join work and extend their service to those in need,” she said.
Briefing the media from the agitation site at Swasthya Bhawan in Salt Lake, the protesting junior doctors thanked the people for joining their movement and said they would continue their ceasework till the demands were implemented.
“The honourable Chief Minister has decided to remove the police commissioner which has been one of our demands. She has also agreed to remove the Director of Health Services (DHS) and the Director of Medical Service (DMS) from the health department. The DC North will be removed as well. This is no doubt a success of our 38-day-long agitation,” one of the protesting junior doctors said.
The meeting between junior doctors and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence in Kolkata was aimed at ending the ongoing impasse that started with the demand for justice over the gruesome rape and murder of a medic at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.
The meeting was held with 42 representatives of the agitating junior doctors. The state government allowed two stenographers from the agitating doctors’ side.
The state government had earlier described this as a “fifth and final invitation for talks”. Unlike the last two times, the protesting junior doctors made it past the doorway this time and talks were held.
A crowd of people with banners and shouting slogans had gathered near the CM’s house expecting positive outcomes from the meeting.
The meeting took place on the eve of the next Supreme Court hearing of the case on Tuesday. The crime and its alleged cover-up attempt triggered a tsunami of unprecedented protests in West Bengal. While it spread to other parts of India, protests were also organised in different parts of the world by the Bengali diaspora.
What happened last week?
On Thursday, about 30-35 junior doctors reached the state government headquarters Nabanna but didn’t attend the meeting as their demand for live-streaming of the discussion was turned down by the Chief Minister.
After Mamata reached the doctors’ protest site on Saturday afternoon, the protesters agreed to a meeting at the Chief Minister’s residence but the question of live-streaming played spoilsport again.
However, by the time the doctors climbed down and agreed for a meeting without videography, the Chief Minister communicated it had timed out.
The meeting finally took place on Monday.
