Meeting the demands of agitating junior doctors, the West Bengal government on Tuesday removed Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal, Deputy Commissioner (North) Abhishek Gupta, Director of Medical Education (DME) Kaustav Nayak and Director of Health Services (DHS) Debashis Halder.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee agreed to remove the Kolkata Police chief, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (north division) and the two health department officials from their posts after a five-hour meeting with a delegation of the junior doctors at her residence in the city on Monday late evening.
5-point demands
During the crucial meeting, the doctors stuck to their five-point demands, including removal of Vineet Goyal, Abhishek Gupta, Kaustav Nayak and Debashis Halder. Under the jurisdiction of Deputy Commissioner of Police (north division) falls state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where the body of the on-duty junior doctor was found on August 9, triggering nationwide outrage.
According to a notification issued on Tuesday afternoon, Manoj Kumar Verma has been appointed as the new Commissioner of Kolkata Police, while Vineet Goyal has been transferred to the Special Task Force of West Bengal Police as ADG and IGP.
Breaking the stalemate, over 40-member delegation of the protesting medicos held talks with the Chief Minister over the five-point demands, including justice for their colleague who was raped and murdered at the RG Kar Hospital, after the government agreed to allow two stenographers, accompanying them, to be present at the meeting to record the minutes.
After the meet, the junior doctors signed the minutes while West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant signed on behalf of the State government.
Effective and responsive grievance redressal
The minutes of the meeting mentioned that the government proposed a task force, headed by the Chief Secretary, which will also have representatives of junior doctors to look into issues of safety and security in hospitals. “An effective and responsive grievance redressal mechanism will be put in place in the medical infrastructure across hospitals and colleges,” it said, adding the composition of the Rogi Kalyan Samity would be reconstituted to make it more inclusive through inclusion of all stakeholders.
While the government requested the agitating junior doctors to join work, the doctors, who have been on a cease-work drive for more than a month following the gruesome rape-murder incident, said they would decide on it after their general body meeting.
“We have seen the government orders. We will have our general body meeting. And following that we will take a decision on whether to continue the cease work or join duty,” said one of the agitating junior doctors.