RG Kar Case: No live telecast, calls for meeting with West Bengal CM at 5 pm

NEW DELHI: In a fresh letter to the agitating junior doctors, the West Bengal government on Thursday issued an invite for talks at 5 pm to end the impasse over the RG Kar hospital medic's alleged rape and murder. While the government accepted the doctors' demand for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's presence at the meeting, it rejected their prerequisite of a Live telecast of the talks and restricted the delegation's strength to not more than 15 people as against the protesters' wish for 30 members.

The letter addressed by Chief Secretary Manoj Pant to the agitating junior doctors, who have stayed put in a sit-in before Swasthya Bhavan, the state health department headquarters in Salt Lake, for nearly 48 hours, states that the government was "open to meeting the delegates to ensure smooth functioning of the healthcare infrastructure in the state", but "cannot be in any manner contrary to the directions passed by the Supreme Court for resumption of work".

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This is the third communication from the government to the doctors in the last two days, with the protesters rejecting the previous two proposals and setting concrete conditions for the meet. "The meeting shall not be Live telecast. However, the same can be recorded to maintain transparency. This will serve the purpose intended from your end, while also maintaining the sanctity of the proceedings, ensuring that all discussions are accurately documented," the Chief Secretary stated in his letter. The protesting doctors are yet to respond to the communication.