Bengal strike enters 6th day, doctors say ready for talks with Mamata government

The impasse at the state-run medical colleges and hospitals in West Bengal entered the sixth day on Sunday, even as the agitating doctors asserted that they were open to talks with the government, the venue for which would be decided by a governing body of medical practitioners.
Earlier, the agitators had insisted that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visit the city’s NRS Medical College and Hospital, the epicentre of the agitation.
After an internal meeting late on Saturday, the doctors, who had turned down an invite for a closed-door meeting with Banerjee at the state secretariat, mellowed down and stated that they were ready to hold a dialogue in any form, but the venue of the meeting would be decided later.
“We will be deciding on our next step during a governing body meeting today. We are open to any dialogue as always. The venue for the meeting will be decided soon,” a spokesperson of a joint forum of junior doctors told reporters here.
During a press conference at the state secretariat on Saturday, Banerjee urged the agitators to resume work and said her government had accepted all of their demands.
She also stressed that a group of doctors had met her and expressed their willingness to join duty, a claim vehemently refuted by the striking doctors.