Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday dissolved the Rogi Kalyan Samitis in all medical colleges and hospitals in the state.
At the junior doctors’ protest site outside Swasthya Bhavan in Salt Lake, the chief minister said “public representatives” will not chair these associations anymore. Principals of medical colleges will helm the samitis now.
“I am dissolving the Rogi Kalyan Samiti of RG Kar and all medical colleges. I will constitute them afresh,” Mamata said during her address to junior doctors.
“I will appoint principals as chairpersons of the Rogi Kalyan Samiti of all hospitals. The committees will have junior doctors, senior doctors, nurses, one public representative and police as members,” she said.
Principals of several medical colleges in the state said usually a minister or an influential public representative, mostly a political leader, used to be the chairperson of the Rogi Kalyan Samiti (patients’ welfare association).
Besides, it had the principals as executive chairpersons. The medical superintendent was the secretary while the accounts officer and the additional medical superintendent were joint secretaries of the samitis. The local municipal councillor used to be a member, too.
The role of the samitis has been under the scanner since the many warts in Bengal’s health system came to light in the wake of the RG Kar rape and murder.
The samitis were accused of interfering with the running of the hospitals and often controlling patient admissions without caring about the really needy.
As their clout grew, many of these samitis had rival Trinamool factions fighting for control.
At RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the incumbent chairperson of the Rogi Kalyan Samiti was Sudipta Ray, the Trinamul MLA from Serampore. Ray was known to be close to former RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh, who was arrested by the CBI.
Ray replaced former Trinamul Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen as the chairperson of RG Kar’s Rogi Kalyan Samiti. Within Trinamool’s doctor supporters, Ray and Sen are known to belong to opposing lobbies.
State cabinet minister Aroop Biswas was the chairperson of the Rogi Kalyan Samiti of SSKM Hospital.
The Rogi Kalyan Samiti s in the medical colleges were set up during Left rule. Their mandate includes discussing problems flagged by patients and taking measures to improve patient services.
“Earlier, the Rogi Kalyan Samitis had substantial funds in its control. The money raised locally by selling OPD tickets and bed charges came to the hospital. The use of this accumulated fund often depended on the discretion of the Samiti. It could be used to purchase an important diagnostic tool that could improve patient services,” said the principal of a medical college in Calcutta.
“But after all beds became free, the fund available with the Samiti is very small. It is mostly the money raised by selling OPD tickets. It has lost its relevance and the value it used to have earlier,” said the principal.
Even after the change, these associations use the funds available with them to buy items needed on emergency basis and can be procured without waiting for the lengthy period required to purchase anything through Swasthya Bhavan, the state health department’s headquarters.
But corruption allegedly crept in and ruined a well-intentioned idea.
Elected representatives of ruling parties used to vie with each other for the chairperson’s position. It allowed them to influence the workings of the hospital. They could admit patients while others waited in a queue for admission for days.
“The chairpersons used to intervene in the purchase of other items in the colleges that they should not have done,” said the principal.
Another principal said the presence of powerful elected representatives as chairpersons also helped in some places. The principal cited the example of removing unauthorised encroachments from Murshidabad Medical College.
“The then chairperson of the Samiti used his power to vacate the space. He could talk to police and the district administration to remove the encroachments. It may not be possible for a principal to do this so easily.”