RG Kar: Mamata removes Police Commissioner, top health officials; medics rejoice 'victory'
Kolkata/New Delhi (PTI): Accepting the bulk of the five-point charter of demand placed by the agitating junior doctors, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced her decision to transfer a section of Kolkata Police and the state health department top brass, including CP Vineet Goyal, from their respective positions.
Banerjee also announced the removal of the Director of Medical Education (DME) and the Director of Health Services (DHS) besides the Deputy Commissioner (North Division) who allegedly offered money to the parents of the RG Kar victim.
“We will announce the name of the new police commissioner after 4 pm on Tuesday after the scheduled hearing in Supreme Court gets over,” the chief minister said at the stroke of midnight after concluding her meeting with the agitating junior doctors at her Kalighat residence, barely hours ahead of the scheduled Supreme Court hearing on the RG Kar hospital matter.
The decisions were formalised in the minutes of the meeting which was signed by Chief Secretary Manoj Pant and countersigned by the delegation of 42 doctors who participated in the talks to end the RG Kar hospital deadlock.
The agitating doctors are on ‘cease work’ across the state for 38 days since the gruesome alleged rape and murder of the postgraduate intern at RG Kar hospital came to light on August 9, crippling state-run healthcare delivery.
“We have accepted almost all demands of the doctors. Keeping in mind the plight of the common people, we did the best we could. I now appeal to the doctors to return to work,” Banerjee said, confirming no disciplinary action would be taken against the agitating doctors.
Deeming the decisions as “the state bowing its head before the pressure of a movement and a “victory of the masses”, the doctors, however, said they would continue their protests till “the words get converted into concrete action”.
“We will decide on what our next step would be after the hearing at the Apex court and after we confirm the government issuing those transfer orders it has promised,” announced Dr Debasish Halder, one of the leaders, from the sit-in before Swasthya Bhawan which is continuing for a week amid inclement weather.
“While the CM has accepted our demand to remove the CP, DC (North), the DHS and DME, she is yet to agree on removing the principal secretary of the health department or the DC (Central). The discussions on the operating threat syndicate in hospitals and the thriving corruption racket remain incomplete. We only have verbal assurances on those matters so far. So our fight is far from over,” added Dr Aniket Mahato, another leader.
The signed minutes of the meeting documented a sanction of Rs 100 crore for infrastructure development in hospitals for doctors and rebuilding of patient welfare committees as more inclusive with stakeholders.
To tackle safety-security measures in hospitals, a special task force headed by the chief secretary and having as members the home secretary, DGP, CP Kolkata and representatives of junior doctors, the minutes stated.
It also documented the setting up of an “effective and responsive grievance redressal mechanism” in medical infrastructure across hospitals and colleges of the state.
“Such measures are ineffective until a democratic work atmosphere returns to hospitals with simultaneous uprooting of threats and corruption nexus,” an agitating doctor said.
Early morning celebrations with protestors playing drums and blowing conch shells were witnessed at the Swasthya Bhawan agitation site.
Earlier on Monday, talks between the state government and the agitating junior doctors began at around 6.50 pm after four unsuccessful previous bids to initiate a dialogue to resolve the deadlock. The meeting lasted for about two hours.
It took another three hours to complete the process of finalizing the minutes of the meeting in the presence of the state chief secretary.
Previous attempts to resolve the issue got stuck due to the state government's rejection of the doctors' demand for live-streaming and video recordings of the meeting.
The agitating medics later agreed to a compromise, now only asking to record the minutes of the meeting and receive a signed copy.
The state government also allowed the two stenographers, accompanying the agitating doctors, inside the venue to record the minutes of the meeting.
Meanwhile, the doctors continued their sit-in outside Swasthya Bhawan, the headquarters of the Health Department, for eight days and the 'cease work' for the 38th day seeking justice for the RG Kar victim and demanding removal of top police and health officials.
The talks fructified after the state government "for the fifth and the final time" invited the protesting doctors for talks to end the impasse, two days after the dialogue failed to take off over disagreement on live-streaming of the meeting.
On Saturday, Banerjee made a surprise visit to the protest site and assured the doctors that their demands would be addressed.
However, the proposed meeting fell through when the protesters claimed they were asked to leave "unceremoniously" after waiting for three hours at the gates of the CM's residence.
In the Capital, senior doctors of RG Kar Medical College alleged tampering of evidence in the Kolkata doctor rape and murder case.
In a statement, the doctors demanded that they want authorities concerned, the CBI and the Supreme Court expedite the investigation process and punish the culprits without any delay.
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59 percent voter turnout in first phase in J-K, polling peaceful: CEO
Jammu, Sep 18: A voter turnout of about 59 percent -- "the highest in the past seven elections" -- was recorded in the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole said.
However, these are tentative figures and may rise after the final reports are received about postal ballots, and from remote pockets like Marwah, Wadwan, Dachhan and Machail in Kishtwar, the officer said.
Briefing mediapersons here after polling ended at 6 pm, Pole said the elections -- which covered 24 seats in seven districts -- ended peacefully without any untoward incident.
There are reports of some minor incidents of scuffle or argument from a few polling stations but "no serious incident" occurred that could have forced a repoll, he said.
Over 2.3 million voters were eligible to cast the ballot to determine the fate of 219 candidates, including 90 Independents.
"The polling percentage of 59 percent is highest in the past seven elections -- four Lok Sabha polls and three assembly elections," he said, attributing the increase in the voter turnout to various factors including improved security situation, active participation of political parties and candidates and a campaign by the department.
He said Kishtwar district recorded the highest 77 percent turnout, while Pulwama district witnessed the lowest 46 percent.
Doda district recorded a turnout of 69.33 percent, Ramban district 67.71 percent, Kulgam district 61.57 percent, Anantnag district 54.17 percent and Shopian district 53.64 percent.
In the 2014 assembly elections, the district wise poll percentage was: Pulwama 44 percent, Shopian 48 percent, Kulgam 59 percent, Anantnag 60 percent, Ramban 70 percent, Doda 73 percent and Kishtwar 76 percent.
In Kishtwar districts, he said, the Padder-Nagseni segment recorded the highest 80.67 percent voting followed by Inderwal (80.06 percent) and Kishtwar (78.11 percent).
In the nearby Doda district, Doda west segment recorded 75.98 percent, Doda (70.21 percent) and Bhaderwah (65.27 percent).
In Ramban district, Banihal segment recorded 71.28 percent and Ramban 67.34 percent, he said.
Among the seven constituencies of Anantnag district, Pahalgam recorded the highest voter turnout at 67.86 percent, followed by Kokernag (58 percent), Dooru (57.90 percent), Srigufwara-Bijbehara (56.02 percent), Shangus-Anantnag (52.94 percent), Anantnag West (45.93 percent) and Anantnag 41.58 percent, Pole said.
In Pulwama district, the CEO said, the Pulwama segment witnessed 50.42 percent polling, followed by Rajpora 48.07 percent, Pampore 44.74 percent and Tral 43.21 percent.
In Shopian district, the Shopian segment recorded a voter turnout of 54.72 percent and Zainapora 52.64 percent.
In Kulgam district, D H Pora recorded a turnout of 68 percent, Kulgam 62.70 percent and Devsar 57.33 percent, Pole said.
He said seven districts of south Kashmir had been traditionally low poll percentage constituencies and in some of the past elections, the percentage had not even crossed the single digit.
Asked about a social media video purportedly showing a policeman losing temper and aiming his gun before being overpowered by his colleagues outside a polling station in Kishtwar, he said the district election officer and the returning officer concerned have taken note and issue was resolved amicably.
PDP and BJP candidates were involved in an argument at the polling station.
Pole expressed hope that the remaining two phases on September 25 and October 1 will also see high polling percentage.
Meanwhile, the election commission expressed satisfaction over the long queues of voters at the polling stations showcasing the entire world, the deep trust and confidence of the people of J&K in the democratic exercise.
The polling was held across 3,276 Polling Stations in the seven districts and 24 special polling stations set up for migrant pandits in Jammu, Udhampur and Delhi.
According to officials, 31.42 percent of the more than 35,000 eligible kashmiri migrant voters exercised their franchise. While 27 percent cast their votes at 19 polling stations in Jammu, 40 percent at four polling stations in Delhi and 30 percent at one polling station in Udhampur.
In each of the seven districts where voting was held in the first phase, the voter participation exceeded the participation during the Lok Sabha 2024 elections, the election commission said in a release.
The performance builds on the trend witnessed during the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir which saw a voter turnout of 58.58 percent at polling stations, highest in the last 35 years.
Voting began at 7 am and proceeded steadily through the day. Men and women, the young and old, some too frail to walk and others patiently waiting their turn, queued up outside polling booths across Kashmir Valley and Jammu.
Security forces fanned out to ensure that there was no trouble. The day was largely without incident except for reports of clashes between political workers in some areas of Bijbehara and D H Pora.
