Principals will now head Rogi Kalyan Samitis in government medical colleges instead of elected representatives and a junior doctor will be a part of the Samiti, chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Thursday.

During an impromptu visit to the junior doctors’ protest site outside Swasthya Bhavan in Salt Lake on September 14, Mamata had announced that the state government would dissolve the samitis.

“We have dissolved the Rogi Kalyan Samitis. I had said they will be dissolved. Principals have now become chairpersons of Rogi Kalyan Samitis. The MSVP (medical superintendent and vice principal) will be a member, one junior doctor, one senior doctor, one sister’s representative and one public representative will be part of the Samiti,” Mamata said.

“They will take responsibility,” said Mamata.

The junior doctors had demanded their participation along with representations from senior doctors, nursing staff, students and healthcare staff in the samitis. The demand was iterated in an email junior doctors wrote to Bengal’s chief secretary Manoj Pant on Thursday.

“I am dissolving the Rogi Kalyan Samiti of RG Kar and all medical colleges. I will constitute them afresh,” Mamata said on September 14.

Principals of several medical colleges said usually a minister or an influential elected representative used to be the chairperson of the Samiti.

The principals were executive chairpersons. The medical superintendent was the secretary while the accounts officer and the additional medical superintendent were joint secretaries of the committees. The local municipal councillor also used to be a member.

The Rogi Kalyan Samitis were set up during Left rule. Their mandate includes discussing problems flagged by patients and taking measures to improve patient services. But the presence of powerful elected representatives at the helm meant political leaders started interfering in the functioning of the committees.

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.