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regular-article-logo Monday, 14 October 2024

Doctors on protest cite 'money offer' to RG Kar victim's parents, stick to live-stream condition

Junior doctors now also want sexual harassment complaint panels in every medical college, zero political interference in public health care

Our Bureau Calcutta Published 13.09.24, 07:45 PM
Agitators take cover during rains as junior doctors continue their 'cease work' and sit-in demonstration against the RG Kar Hospital incident, outside Swasthya Bhavan in Calcutta, Friday, September 13, 2024

Agitators take cover during rains as junior doctors continue their 'cease work' and sit-in demonstration against the RG Kar Hospital incident, outside Swasthya Bhavan in Calcutta, Friday, September 13, 2024 PTI picture.

The agitating doctors are sticking to the demand for a live streaming of a meeting with chief minister Mamata Banerjee when it happens.

“We have seen how the victim’s parents were targeted over cash being offered to them. The parents said they were offered money and the chief minister denied it. We don’t want such a situation,” said Biplab Chandra, state secretary of the Medical Service Centre to The Telegraph Online.

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The parents’ of the 31-year old postgraduate trainee raped and murdered on August 9 inside the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital had alleged that they were offered money by a senior officer of the Calcutta Police, even before the victim’s cremation had taken place on the fateful day.

The chief minister later denied any money was offered to the family.

“I went to the victims' house but did not offer any money. We spoke about compensation following Court order," said Banerjee. "I told the deceased doctor's parents that if they wanted to do something in their daughter's memory, our government was with them.”

Before Mamata, two state ministers Bratya Basu and Sashi Panja had shared another video of the parents where they denied having been offered any money. The same evening the parents told ABP Ananda, they were forced to deny being offered money.

A 30-member delegation of the junior doctors’ went to the state secretariat at Howrah on Thursday evening but returned without meeting the chief minister, as the government offered recording of the meeting, while turning down the demand for live streaming.

“We went to meet the chief minister last evening. Later on when she addressed the press briefing we heard that she was interested only with healthcare. The rape and murder of the postgraduate trainee and the issue of corruption in the medical colleges and government hospitals are correlated. They cannot be separated,” a spokesperson for the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front told the media on Friday evening.

“Unless the police personnel involved in the destruction of evidence, the health department officials running syndicates are removed from their positions the victim will not get justice,” she added.

Along with the previous five-point demands made by the WBJDF, they have demanded implementation of a referral system and professional counsellors be hired to support the public in addressing their issues.

They have asked for an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to be established in every college to address sexual offences against women and zero tolerance for political interference in the public healthcare system.

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