West Bengal: CM Mamata Banerjee declines 'live streaming' of meet with junior doctors; says recording of meeting will be provided later

The West Bengal Chief Minister further requested the doctors to cooperate and assured them of providing them with a recording of the meeting.

"I assure you that whatever recording will be done, it will be given to you. Accept my request and join the meeting. If you people do not want to come to the meeting, then please come inside the residence, have tea and then proceed to leave," said Banerjee.

According to the Information and Cultural Affairs Department, WB government, Mamata Banerjee spoke to the junior doctors who were standing at the door of her residence and stated the reason for declining the live streaming.

"You all have been standing in the rain for 2 hours. I am waiting for you all. There is a case going on in the Supreme Court, so we cannot do live streaming. I assure you that whatever recording will be done, it will be given to you. Accept my request and join the meeting. If you people do not want to come to the meeting, then please come inside the residence, have tea and then proceed to leave," said CM Banerjee.

"We will prepare the minutes of the meeting and give them to you. The recording will be given later. If you people did not want to attend the meeting, then why did you come? Why are you insulting like this? This is not the first time. I have said earlier also that the recording cannot be given today. It is not possible to accept all your demands," CM Mamata Banerjee said.

This comes after the key meeting scheduled between West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and protesting doctors at her residence hit a roadblock over livestreaming issues.

The junior doctors were firm on their demand that they would not participate in the meeting until live streaming was allowed.

At the time of filing this report, the meeting had not started yet as 12 junior doctors from the 30-doctor delegation had stepped out to demand live streaming.

The West Bengal CM had earlier visited the agitating doctors at the Swasthya Bhawan in Salt Lake and appealed to them to resume work.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was scheduled to hold a meeting with junior doctors at 6 pm today (Saturday) at her residence, with a delegation of 15 representatives, informed West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant earlier in the day.

This comes after Mamata Banerjee visited the junior doctors' protest site in front of Swasthya Bhaban, where she assured the doctors that she would address their demands and make efforts to fulfil them.

Earlier, while addressing the protesting doctors in front of Swasthya Bhaban, the West Bengal Chief Minister said that she was spending sleepless nights as the doctors were agitating on the road amid rains.

She had further urged the protesting doctors to return to work and said, "I request you to return to work. All the work related to the development, infrastructure, and security of the hospital has been started and will be done further."

Meanwhile, in an effort to monitor the situation and ensure security, the Kolkata Police installed CCTV cameras at the protest site and surrounding areas.

The move comes as the junior doctors continued their protest, demanding justice and calling for enhanced safety measures at medical institutions, even after the Supreme Court set a deadline for doctors to resume work on Tuesday.

Earlier on September 13, junior doctors in Kolkata criticised the West Bengal Chief Minister for rejecting their request to live telecast a meeting and for not meeting with them.

They argued that their request was reasonable, given that parliamentary discussions and many administrative meetings are broadcast live.

The doctors expressed frustration over being asked to leave electronic gadgets outside the meeting hall, which prevented them from recording the proceedings.

The second-year postgraduate medical student was raped and murdered inside the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College on August 9. (ANI)