Kolkata West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday night announced the removal of Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal, director of health services and director of medical education, bowing to the demands of agitating young doctors .
Banerjee's announcement came after a lengthy meeting with agitated doctors to end a more than a month-long stalemate over the rape and murder of a doctor at R G Kar hospital on August 9.
Banerjee noted that the talks with the protesters were fruitful and said that almost “99 percent of their demands have been accepted” and that they should resume their work. The name of the new Kolkata Police Commissioner will be announced after 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, he told reporters after the meeting held at his residence to resolve the crisis.
“Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and Northern Division Deputy Commissioner Abhishek Gupta will be transferred. The doctors claimed that Goyal had earlier told them that he wanted to resign because they had lost faith in him. We have taken up his request and transferred him to a post which he had applied for,” Banerjee said.
She said there would be more changes in the police department. The prime minister urged doctors to return to work as most of his demands have been accepted.
"No punitive action will be taken against doctors...I would request them to return to work as common people are suffering," he said.
The agitated young doctors described the decision to dismiss the Calcutta police commissioner as their "moral victory". However, they said they will continue their "stop work" and protests until the promises made by the chief minister of Kolkata are fulfilled. Bengal.
"We will also wait for Tuesday's hearing at the Supreme Court," the doctors said after the meeting.
The meeting which was held after four failed attempts to start a dialogue to resolve the deadlock also came a day before the Supreme Court hearing on the matter. Banerjee said the director of health services and director of medical education they would be removed, but the demand to replace Health Secretary N S Nigam would not be accepted.
"We informed them (doctors) that it is not possible to accept the demand regarding the dismissal of the health secretary as it would create a sudden vacuum in the health department," he said.
Banerjee said the government had accepted three of the five demands of the protesters. “One demand regarding the investigation (of the rape and murder case) cannot be met as the matter is before the Supreme Court and the CBI is investigating. We have full faith in the judiciary.
"I want to assure you that no punitive action will be taken against doctors and ask them to return to work because common people are suffering," he said.
Banerjee also announced the formation of a task force headed by the chief secretary to look into other issues related to security in hospitals and medical college premises. The task force will also comprise the home minister, the DGP, the Calcutta police commissioner and representatives of the junior doctors.
Further, Banerjee stated that an effective and responsive grievance redressal mechanism will be established in hospitals.
"100 crore has been sanctioned for improving hospital infrastructure such as CCTV and toilets, which will be formalized in close consultations with the medical fraternity," he added. Earlier, the meeting at the prime minister's residence to address the RG Kar impasse concluded after almost two hours, although it took two and a half more hours to finalize the minutes of the meeting.
Escorted by a police pilot vehicle, 42 doctors reached Banerjee's residence at 6.20 pm. The meeting, initially scheduled for five in the afternoon, began around seven in the afternoon and lasted two hours.
Previous attempts to resolve the issue failed due to the state government's rejection of the doctors' demand to live-stream and video-record the meeting. The agitated doctors later reached a compromise and decided to take the minutes of the meeting and receive a signed copy.
The state government accepted this condition and chief secretary Manoj Pant said both sides would sign the minutes of the meeting and share copies for clarity.
The state government also allowed the two stenographers, who accompanied the agitated doctors, to enter the venue to record the minutes of the meeting.The agitated doctors, however, have remained firm in their demands.
"We also want the problem to be resolved, but not at the cost of any kind of compromise on our five demands. We are going to the meeting to discuss all the issues with an open mind," says a doctor present at the conference agitatedly. meeting, he said before leaving for the talks.
The state government on Monday morning invited protesting doctors "for the fifth and final time" to hold talks to end the deadlock, two days after the dialogue failed to take off due to disagreements over the live broadcast of the meeting. .
Banerjee's announcement came after a lengthy meeting with agitated doctors to end a more than a month-long stalemate over the rape and murder of a doctor at R G Kar hospital on August 9.
Banerjee noted that the talks with the protesters were fruitful and said that almost “99 percent of their demands have been accepted” and that they should resume their work. The name of the new Kolkata Police Commissioner will be announced after 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, he told reporters after the meeting held at his residence to resolve the crisis.
“Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and Northern Division Deputy Commissioner Abhishek Gupta will be transferred. The doctors claimed that Goyal had earlier told them that he wanted to resign because they had lost faith in him. We have taken up his request and transferred him to a post which he had applied for,” Banerjee said.
She said there would be more changes in the police department. The prime minister urged doctors to return to work as most of his demands have been accepted.
"No punitive action will be taken against doctors...I would request them to return to work as common people are suffering," he said.
The agitated young doctors described the decision to dismiss the Calcutta police commissioner as their "moral victory". However, they said they will continue their "stop work" and protests until the promises made by the chief minister of Kolkata are fulfilled. Bengal.
"We will also wait for Tuesday's hearing at the Supreme Court," the doctors said after the meeting.
The meeting which was held after four failed attempts to start a dialogue to resolve the deadlock also came a day before the Supreme Court hearing on the matter. Banerjee said the director of health services and director of medical education they would be removed, but the demand to replace Health Secretary N S Nigam would not be accepted.
"We informed them (doctors) that it is not possible to accept the demand regarding the dismissal of the health secretary as it would create a sudden vacuum in the health department," he said.
Banerjee said the government had accepted three of the five demands of the protesters. “One demand regarding the investigation (of the rape and murder case) cannot be met as the matter is before the Supreme Court and the CBI is investigating. We have full faith in the judiciary.
"I want to assure you that no punitive action will be taken against doctors and ask them to return to work because common people are suffering," he said.
Banerjee also announced the formation of a task force headed by the chief secretary to look into other issues related to security in hospitals and medical college premises. The task force will also comprise the home minister, the DGP, the Calcutta police commissioner and representatives of the junior doctors.
Further, Banerjee stated that an effective and responsive grievance redressal mechanism will be established in hospitals.
"100 crore has been sanctioned for improving hospital infrastructure such as CCTV and toilets, which will be formalized in close consultations with the medical fraternity," he added. Earlier, the meeting at the prime minister's residence to address the RG Kar impasse concluded after almost two hours, although it took two and a half more hours to finalize the minutes of the meeting.
Escorted by a police pilot vehicle, 42 doctors reached Banerjee's residence at 6.20 pm. The meeting, initially scheduled for five in the afternoon, began around seven in the afternoon and lasted two hours.
Previous attempts to resolve the issue failed due to the state government's rejection of the doctors' demand to live-stream and video-record the meeting. The agitated doctors later reached a compromise and decided to take the minutes of the meeting and receive a signed copy.
The state government accepted this condition and chief secretary Manoj Pant said both sides would sign the minutes of the meeting and share copies for clarity.
The state government also allowed the two stenographers, who accompanied the agitated doctors, to enter the venue to record the minutes of the meeting.The agitated doctors, however, have remained firm in their demands.
"We also want the problem to be resolved, but not at the cost of any kind of compromise on our five demands. We are going to the meeting to discuss all the issues with an open mind," says a doctor present at the conference agitatedly. meeting, he said before leaving for the talks.
The state government on Monday morning invited protesting doctors "for the fifth and final time" to hold talks to end the deadlock, two days after the dialogue failed to take off due to disagreements over the live broadcast of the meeting. .
