NBMCH moves to suspend medical students found guilty of various charges

SILIGURI: North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) council has tweaked its decision to expel five medical students from the hospital. They have instead announced the suspension of the students for six months. However, the students will not be allowed to stay in the hostels of the medical college. Dr. Anupam Nath Gupta, the new dean of NBMCH, announced this after the college council meeting on Wednesday.

In response to mounting allegations of corruption and a culture of threat in NBMC, the college council had conducted an inquiry and announced stringent action against 12 persons, including 3 Group-A staff; 3 house staff; 5 students and 1 intern, including Dr. Sandeep Sengupta, the dean who had resigned amidst

the controversy.

“The students who were to be expelled had applied to us for reconsideration of our decision. Keeping their future in mind, we have changed our decision. Although they will be suspended for six months and won’t be allowed to stay in the hostels ever,” Dr. Gupta stated, addressing media persons on Wednesday. The Group-A staff have been asked to take forced leave; the house staff have been terminated, and the internships of the students have

been suspended.

The probe was triggered by a student protest on September 4, during which the college’s principal and dean were ‘gheraoed.’ The protesters accused the students’ union, the dean, and the principal of running a system rife with threats and corruption, particularly concerning examinations and appointments of house staff.

The five students who have been suspended include Joy Lakra, Tirthankar Roy, Aritra Roy, Aishee Chakraborty, and Sreeja Karmakar. The house staff are Saheen Sarkar, Sahinul Islam, and

Hriturambha Sarkar.

On Tuesday, after the notice of expulsion of the five students, other students started protesting against the decision. The students alleged that they were not given any chance to clarify their positions. They ‘gheraoed’ the principal late on Tuesday night. At around 11:30 pm, the college council called for an emergency meeting with eight members and temporarily withheld the decision of expulsion of the students, scheduling another meeting with all the members of the council on Wednesday.

At Wednesday’s meeting, the decision of suspension was taken for the students, and the remaining decisions for the other staff and the intern remained the same. Their suspension will start from September 12 at 2pm.

Tirthankar Roy, one of the students who has been suspended, said: “We have not been given a chance to explain ourselves. We do not know why they have taken such a decision against us. They will not allow us to stay in the hostel.” However, Dr. Anupam Nath Gupta stated that everyone was given a chance to clarify themselves; four students had testified before the inquiry committee on September 7.