Kolkata: The Calcutta Medical College and Hospital held a “vote to select”, a students’ council on Monday. Of the 20 seats for which voting was held, the Medical College Democratic Students’ Association won 17 seats, the All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO) won one seat and independent candidates won two seats. Sources in the state Health department said the vote to form the student council was not the decision of the Health department. It was an independent decision of the Calcutta Medical College authorities.
“No order was issued from the Health department to the medical college authority,” an official said. Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad, however, failed to submit nominations for the vote. The ruling party in Bengal also raised allegations that rules framed by the National Medical Commission were not followed in the election. The official also stated none has approached the department till date requesting for elections. This was the first vote to form the student council at the Calcutta Medical since the junior doctors’ led protests in August 2024 following the rape and murder of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee at RG Kar Medical College. Among the many demands raised during the junior doctors’ protests last year was elections to form students’ unions in the medical colleges.