Twenty four hours after Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offered a conditional offer for talks to the protesting junior doctors asking them to first withdraw the ongoing fast-unto-death before returning to the dialogue table medics on Sunday “decided to join the meeting but without ending the indefinite fast.”

“Responding to the honourable Chief Minister’s call for a talk the junior doctors’ front has decided to go to Nabanna (State secretariat) for talks but without withdrawing the indefinite fast we would expect the administration to be positive towards the ten-point demands the doctors have placed before the Government,” and “address the issue from a humanitarian angle considering the health of the doctors who have been fasting for the past 16 days,” Dr Aniket one off the doctors who too was on a fast but had to be hospitalized later on said.

Earlier the Chief Minister called up the doctors and asked t hem to withdraw the fast. “I am in favour of humanity. I also want justice. But at the same time the treatment of the common people will have to be ensured. So I am again requesting you to withdraw the hunger-strike and get back to work,” she said adding “I can call you for a dialogue but only on Monday for 45 minutes but I will ask you to call off the fast and then join the meeting.”  Subsequently, State Chief Secretary Manoj Pant who visited the doctors’ sit-in site along with Home Secretary Nandini Chakraborty wrote “the Hon’ble chief minister hopes that this message will be received with the understanding that the junior doctors will immediately end the hunger strike in the interest of public health and well-being.”

Emerging from a long general body meeting the doctors on Sunday evening said, “There can be no condition for talks refers to the doctors and the patients they cater to the lifting of the fast would depend upon the outcome of the talks,” adding “we think it is very much within the scope of the Government to end the impasse because we are not asking for moon we are asking for better safety security, facility for the doctors and patients including restrooms, washrooms, CCTV coverage, centralized referral system with real time monitoring and a fixed date for students’ elections so as to stop entry of corrupt elements in the college administration via backdoor.”

The doctors’ movement started after the tragic rape and murder of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9 which sparked a nation-wide outrage. The doctors immediately resorted to a cease work demanding justice for the victim doctor and improved facilities and safety measures, inside the government medical colleges and hospitals.

Meanwhile, despite the Chief Ministerial offer for talks the ruling Trinamool Congress continued to mount vehement attack on the junior doctors calling them “puppets in the hands of the CPI(M) and Maoists.”

TMC spokesperson Debangshu Bhattacharya attacked the doctors for allegedly impeding the health services. “These doctors are nothing but puppets in the hands of the CPI(M) or the Maoists because those who impede health services at the cost of common man’s life are nothing but Maoists,” he said.

Another senior leader Kunal Ghosh said that he would ask the administration to “note down the names of the doctors who are not working and take care of them adequately after the elections.”

The TMC leaders’ attack on the doctors came on a day when two incidents of rapes were reported from East Midnapore and South 24 Parganas sources said. While in the first case an alleged teacher was arrested for raping two school students in the second case a 60-year-old man was arrested for raping a 6-year-old minor, police said. While first incident took place at Bhupatinagar the second one happened at Basanti sources said.