Another state-run medical college in Bengal, the College of Medicine & Sagore Dutta Hospital in Kamarhati near Calcutta, has reported a violent disruption during a council meeting at a time the RG Kar rape-murder case has thrown the spotlight on government-run healthcare hubs in the state.
The resident doctors’ association at Sagore Dutta had called a meeting with the principal, all heads of departments and other administrative heads on Teachers’ Day to seek an update on their pending demands from the hospital administration. Around 50-60 undergraduate medical students gathered outside the hall and tried to disrupt the meeting, the hospital administrators said.
The Principal of Sagore Dutta speaks to local media after the incident. Sourced by the Correspondent.
“They tried to enter the hall forcibly and their intentions didn’t look good,” Dr Partha Pratim Pradhan, principal of the hospital, told reporters. “A clash ensued when they were asked to wait outside for the meeting to conclude. The glass of the hall door was broken and attempts were made to kick down the door."
Dr Monojit Mukherjee, a postgraduate doctor who attended the meeting, sustained an eye injury, the principal said: “He was fortunate to be wearing glasses; otherwise, the glass shards would have caused severe damage to his eye.”
The FIR filed by the Principal against UG students. Sourced by the Correspondent.
The hospital authorities called the police to control the situation. The authorities have lodged an FIR against several undergraduate students for forceful entry.
“This was the fourth meeting conducted to address two major concerns — an abysmal lack of security for doctors on duty and the threat culture being perpetrated by a section of undergraduate doctors and interns,” said Dr Akash R, a senior resident at the Sagore Dutta hospital and a member of the resident doctors’ association. According to Akash, this was the first meeting against threat culture and the fourth meeting on security issues.
“Despite Sagore Dutta being a relatively new college, the threat culture here works at a whole new level. It is astonishing to see how a small group can heckle the entire hospital including the management,” Dr Akash R told The Telegraph Online.
Sagore Dutta principal Dr Pradhan said that not just resident doctors but even he and his staff are under constant threat.
The resident doctors pointed to an unregistered students’ unit formed after the RG Kar incident came to light.
The emergency log which has been stamped by the unregistered "Students' Unit". Sourced by the Correspondent.
Many doctors have levelled allegations at this group – of question paper leaks, open cheating in undergraduate medical university exams and violation of duty guidelines.
“There are mainly five people behind the vandalism and ruckus during the council meeting and they all are part of the TMC Chatra Parishad lobby,” Dr Akash R said.
He named a few people, but The Telegraph Online is not publishing their names because we could not reach them despite several attempts.
He also accused some interns of avoiding emergency duty by putting their names on the log sheet and putting the stamp of their “unregistered unit” on the attendance register.
“The day Dr Birupaksha Biswas and Dr Avik De were suspended by the Bengal government, these students came to us saying that they have quit politics and wanted to contribute to the doctors’ movement. They were nowhere to be seen when the protests initially started,” Dr Akash said.
A postgraduate doctor, present at the meeting on September 5, has also accused a professor at Sagore Dutta of making inappropriate and sexual remarks. The doctor alleged the professor used his position to misbehave with doctors right from admission. The college has formed an internal inquiry committee.
