Mamata Banerjee meets protesting doctors' demand, sacks Vineet Goyal as Kolkata Police Commissioner

In less than 24 hours after holding talks with the junior doctors, protesting against the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at state-run RG Kar Hospital, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has appointed Manoj Kumar Verma as the new Kolkata Police Commissioner.

One of the five key demands of the protesting junior doctors was to sack Vineet Kumar Goyal, whom Verma has replaced on September 17.

Following the first round of talks with a delegation of junior doctors at her residence in Kalighat, CM Mamata Banerjee, on Monday night, announced the removal of senior police and health officials, including Kolkata Police Commissioner Goyal.

Goyal, who had succeeded Soumen Mitra as the Kolkata’s top police officer in 2021, was criticised for his handling of rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor at RG Kar Hospital on August 9.

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Goyal, who was of the 1994 batch, has been transferred as Additional Director General (ADG) and Inspector General of Police (IGP) of West Bengal Police’s Special Task Force (STF).

Verma, an officer of the 1998 batch, was the ADG and IGP (Law & Order) in the West Bengal Police in his last assignment.

The Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal government, on Tuesday, also removed Dr Kaustav Nayak and Dr Debasish Halder from the position of Director of Medical Education (DME) and the Director of Health Services (DHS) respectively.

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On Monday, during the meeting, Banerjee had also promised the junior doctors that Nayak and Halder would be from their positions.

As per the order issued by the state health department, Dr Swapan Soren has been appointed the new in-charge director of health services and Dr Suparna Dutta officer on special duty of medical education. , it added.

After meeting with the chief minister, the delegation of junior doctors said the talks were “positive” but they needed to hold discussions with their colleagues before taking a final call on resuming work.

5 demands listed by the protesting junior doctors include:

1 - Expedite investigation into RG Kar rape-murder case and punish the culprits without delay

2 - Suspend former RG Kar College and Hospital’s ex-principal Dr Sandip Ghosh and all others “directly or indirectly involved with tampering of evidence”

3 - Removal of Vineet Kumar Goyal as the Commissioner of Kolkata Police

4 - Adequate security within hospital premises

5 - “End threat culture prevalent in all healthcare facilities.”

On Monday, Mamata Banerjee said: “We tried listening to junior doctors…we have decided to change the DC (Kolkata Police Commissioner)…he agreed to resign himself…in the health department, they demanded the removal of 3 persons and we agreed for 2. We have agreed 99 per cent, what else can we do?"

She urged the doctors to return to work as most of their demands have been accepted.

“We have requested the junior doctors to come back to work so that the common citizens won’t suffer,” Banerjee said.

She also assured that no punitive action will be taken against the doctors.

With inputs from agencies.