Panel receives plaints of ‘threat culture’ from students of state med colleges

Kolkata: The state Health department has received numerous complaints from students regarding the prevailing “threat culture and irregularities in the examination system” in various government hospitals and medical colleges following the RG Kar incident, a senior official said on Thursday.

All complaints were forwarded to the State-Level Grievance Redressal Committee, which was formed by the state government on Tuesday evening after agitation by junior doctors who are currently on a “total cease work”.

“For the last 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 a news agency on condition of anonymity. Another official said that out of the 25 state-run medical colleges and hospitals, complaints have come from six.

“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. “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 six months and allowed on campus only for exams, at the College of Medicine and JNM Hospital in Nadia district following allegations of threatening fellow students.

Following protests by junior doctors, five student doctors at North Bengal Medical College were suspended for six months for alleged highhandedness and involvement in malpractices.

The junior doctors in West Bengal had partially resumed duties on September 21 after a 42-day protest over the rape and murder of a woman doctor at RG Kar Medical

College and Hospital here on August 9.