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regular-article-logo Sunday, 22 December 2024

Doctors to march over council duo return and delayed chargesheets in RG Kar protest

The rally will raise questions on the state medical council’s decision to bring back two doctors — Avik De and Birupaksha Biswas — against whom there are several allegations of misconduct

Subhajoy Roy, Samarpita Banerjee Calcutta Published 05.12.24, 06:50 AM
Representational image

Representational image File image

The Junior Doctors’ Front on Wednesday called for a rally from the West Bengal Medical Council office to the state health department headquarters, both in Salt Lake, on Friday afternoon.

The rally will raise questions on the state medical council’s decision to bring back two doctors — Avik De and Birupaksha Biswas — against whom there are several allegations of misconduct.

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The rallyists will also protest the state government’s move to hold back consent to chargesheet Sandip Ghosh, a former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, and Ashis Pandey, a former house staff at the medical college.

It was on Ghosh’s watch that a junior doctor was raped and murdered in the Emergency building of RG Kar on August 9.

The junior doctors appealed to all to join the rally, which will start at 3pm.

“We will march from the office of the medical council to Swasthya Bhavan (the state health department’s headquarters) on Friday. Junior doctors, senior doctors and people from all walks of life will join the rally,” said Debashis Halder, a senior resident at Medical College Kolkata.

“De has been taken back into the council though the allegations against him have been proven.”

The council had in September barred De from all its activities but the decision was later withdrawn, said sources in the council.

He attended the council’s meeting on Monday, which was held for the first time since the rape and murder on August 9. The RG Kar horror had triggered statewide
protests demanding an overhaul of the government-run healthcare.

During the peak of the junior doctors’ protests between August and October, many medics alleged that De and Biswas used to manipulate appointments in government hospitals.

Biswas is a member of the ethics panel of the medical council. He was barred from taking part in the panel’s activities, a decision that was later withdrawn.

Another junior doctor said that because of the state government’s refusal to give clearance, the court has not yet taken cognisance of the CBI chargesheet against Ghosh and Pandey in a case related to financial irregularities at RG Kar.

Metro reported on November 29 that a Sealdah court did not take cognisance of the 80-page chargesheet as the CBI was still awaiting the state’s concurrence.

Asked for a reaction, a state health department official said: “We have received a huge set of papers a few days ago for concurrence to prosecute Ghosh and Pandey. Our officials will examine the papers and respond. Whatever we do has to be legally tenable. It will take some time.”

The official said: “Ghosh is an employee of the state government but I am not sure if any nod is required to prosecute Pandey. A house staff is not an employee of the state government. Still, we will examine the matter.”

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