Patient services are likely to be hit again at the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, as students have threatened to go on a hunger strike from 10am on Thursday after the state health department remained firm on not holding the students union election immediately.
Students who had gheraoed the principal, senior administration officials and senior doctors of the hospital since Monday afternoon, lifted the gherao early on Wednesday.
Services at the hospital was normal on Wednesday, sources said.
The state health department held a meeting on Wednesday evening, where senior officials of the hospital were present, to discuss the situation at the hospital.
A senior official of the health department said that the meeting discussed the need to keep the hospital services unaffected.
“The students union elections was not discussed as such,” said the official.
Sudipto Roy, a doctor and the chairperson of the Rogi Kalyan Samiti (Patient Welfare Society) of the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital said: “It was not possible to hold the elections immediately”.
Roy was present in the meeting held at the health department on Wednesday evening.
“We are not saying the elections will not be held. We are saying that the elections cannot be held immediately,” said Roy, who is also the Trinamul MLA from Serampore.
Patient services were hit on Tuesday when the students kept over 20 doctors, including many department heads, confined and did not allow them to go to their departments.
The central laboratory of the hospital, where pathological tests for admitted patients are done, did not function for long.
Aniket Kar, one of the protesting students, said they had three demands: the election be held on December 22; the authorities must tell them what action would be taken against senior doctors who assaulted some students and people who were responsible for the disruption of patient services on Tuesday be identified.
The students claimed that central laboratory was kept closed by some staff of the hospital on Tuesday to malign their protest.
“We will start a hunger strike from 10am on Thursday,” he said.
Indranil Biswas, the principal of the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, told The Telegraph on Tuesday that the election could not be held on December 22 because of two technical reasons.
“The state finance department’s nod is needed to conduct the elections. The poll expenses will be borne by the state government. I have been told that at a time when the state is taking austerity measures, expenses for the students’ union election may not be allowed. I have written to the government for permission to hold the election,” he said.
He added “law and order arrangements” were also necessary for the union poll. “I have sought permission for law and order arrangements,” he said.