Protesting doctors win, Mamata agrees to live media coverage

Kolkata, June 17 (IANS) A delegation of 30 doctors will be at Nobanno to meet the West Bengal Chief Minister after protesting medicos stuck to their demand and agreed to meet Mamata Banerjee on Monday only after the official confirmation of live media coverage of the discussion.

The meeting, slated to originally at 3 p.m., would be delayed for some time as the government conceded the young medicos' demand for live media coverage of the meeting at the last moment.

The letter from Director, Medical Education, P.K. Mitra said the Chief Minister has agreed to meet two representatives from each medical college at the Secretariat Nabanna.

"The discussion will focus on all your demands. I also confirm that discussion and resolutions taken in this meeting shall be recorded, and duly communicated to you," the letter said.

Prior to the government climb down, the doctors had stuck to their point that they will reach the state Secretariat Nabanna once they get an official confirmation of live media coverage of the meeting.

The state government had sent a formal letter of invitation to the striking junior doctors to meet, urging them to reach the Chief Minister's Office at Nabanno by 2.30 p.m.

"We have received a formal invitation for our meeting with the Chief Minister but the letter did not mention anything about media coverage.

"We will only move to the State Secretariat once we get an official confirmation of the same," a representative of the protesting doctors at NRS had told reporters earlier.

He said that the agitating doctors have agreed to all the points suggested in the letter and the live media coverage is 'a very simple demand to maintain transparency'.