The agitating doctors have been demonstrating outside 'Swathya Bhavan', the state health department headquarters, for over 40 hours. The government had Wednesday rejected their demands for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's presence and a live broadcast as preconditions for talks to resolve the impasse

A large number of police personnel have been deployed in and around 'Swathya Bhavan' at Salt Lake, and traffic movement was regulated

"We will continue our agitation and 'cease work'. But, we did not want to continue this. The state government is not open to holding any meeting with us. And, we want to make it clear that there is no politics behind our stir," one of the protesting doctors told PTI

Meanwhile, healthcare services at state-run hospitals remained crippled on Thursday, as the 'cease work' by the junior doctors entered the 34th day

Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya had on Wednesday said the government remains open to discussions, but suggested that "political forces" might be influencing the protests

This led to a quick rebuttal from the medics, who dismissed the claims as baseless, and asserted that the protests would continue till their demands were met

The state government had invited the agitating doctors to a meeting at state secretariat Nabanna at 6 pm on Wednesday, but the invitation did not confirm whether Banerjee would attend it

Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, in an email, had urged the doctors to send a delegation of 12 to 15 members and stressed the importance of resuming work, citing a Supreme Court order directing them to return to duty by 5 pm on Tuesday

Despite the invitation, the junior doctors insisted on several preconditions before agreeing to the meeting