Kolkata

KOLKATA: Several rounds of discussions and hours of deliberation went in before the agitating junior doctors, who were adamant that they would meet chief minister Mamata Banerjee only at NRS Medical College and Hospital, to finally agreeing to meet her at Nabanna. It also took coaxing by many senior doctors to bring the agitators to the table.  

Since Monday morning, the junior doctors had gone into a huddle. Heated arguments ensued, quelled by some sane voices, as they discussed whether they should go to Nabanna or not and the conditions they wanted to lay down. Even till the last moment, uncertainly loomed large as the junior doctors’ demand for live coverage was initially not being met with. “We wanted the meeting to be recorded on camera so that the government does not go back on its assurances. We were sceptical as many previous promises have not been implemented. Once this condition was agreed upon, we knew we could attend the meeting,” said a junior doctor from NRS.  

The agitators said they had started to discuss to end the agitation on Friday itself, when they joined emergency services. But the CM’s visit to SSKM Hospital and her reported outburst against the protesters apparently ended all hope for a rapprochement. “The cease-work was to put pressure on the state administration so that we get a congenial environment at work. Since it had turned into a mass movement, retracting from it was difficult,” said another junior doctor at NRS. “But we knew that patients were suffering and so, the public might turn against us any time. ”

The agitators followed closely as five senior doctors visited Nabanna on Friday but when a toned-down CM appealed to them on Saturday to have a talk, they realised they should not miss this opportunity. “Senior doctors, who had continuously been talking to us, said if we did not call an end to the impasse, the public might turn their ire on these very justified demands. We started deliberating on it,” said a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The hope for a solution glimmered as junior doctors on Sunday night agreed to speak to the CM at Nabanna. But again, they demanded a live coverage. “It had become a sort of ego issue for both the sides. But once the CM invited us for the talks, we took a step forward. Many faculty members also told us it should be now or never,” said an agitating doctor.