West Bengal doctors' protest: State panel receives plaints of 'threat culture' from medical students

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The health department in West Bengal has received numerous complaints from students regarding the ongoing "threat culture and irregularities in the examination system" in several government hospitals and medical colleges following the RG Kar incident, a senior official said to PTI on Thursday.

All complaints were sent to the grievance redressal committee, formed by the state government on Tuesday evening after the West Bengal doctors' protests. The junior doctors are currently on a "total cease work".

"For the past few days, we have received many complaints regarding an alleged threat culture, a culture of intimidation, and anomalies in the examination system in medical colleges. We don't have the exact compiled figures, but we have forwarded all the complaints to the state-level grievance redressal committee," the health department official told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

According to PTI, another official claimed that complaints have come from six of the 25 state-run medical colleges and hospitals.

"The complaints have been pouring in since late last month after the junior doctors partially resumed duties. Some complaints were directly sent to the state health secretary and some to the state health department headquarters. Several others were also to the Director of Health Services," the official said to PTI.

"We have addressed some complaints, and required action was taken. We have now compiled a list of all complaints and sent it to the redressal committee," he said.

According to officials, 40 medics were suspended for a period of six months and allowed on campus only for exams, at the College of Medicine and JNM Hospital

Officials report that after being accused of threatening other students, 40 medics from the College of Medicine and JNM Hospital in the Nadia region were suspended for six months and were only permitted on campus for exams.

Five North Bengal Medical College student doctors were punished for six months for suspected highhandedness and malpractices after protests by junior doctors.

The West Bengal doctors' protest began after the rape and murder of a female medic at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9. The junior doctors had partially returned to duties on September 21 after a 42-day protest. However, alleging that the state government did not fulfill its promises, the West Bengal doctors' protest resumed on Tuesday.

"We have been alleging from the beginning that there is deep-rooted corruption in the state health department and medical colleges. This corruption must be rooted out. Our agitation has only given hope to junior doctors and resident doctors to raise their voices against the corruption," said Aniket Mahato a medic to PTI.

Additionally, to demand immediate justice for the deceased doctor, the protesting medics sketched a broader list of grievances. Their nine demands include hiring permanent female police personnel, increasing police security in hospitals, and the removal of the state's health secretary.

The doctors also asked for the immediate filling of all vacant posts for doctors, nurses and healthcare workers, as well as hospitals to implement a digital bed vacancy monitoring system, PTI reported.

(With inputs from PTI)