Justice Ashim Roy to head 12-member health panel

Justice Asim Kumar Roy has been appointed as the chairman of the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission.

The state government has set up the commission within 24 hours of Governor KN Tripathi giving his assent to the West Bengal Clinical Establishments (registration, regulation and transparency) Bill.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in Nabanna that subject to concurrence of the chief justice of Calcutta High Court, Justice Asim Kumar Roy, who will be retiring from the High Court after five months, shall be chairperson of the commission. Senior IAS officer Anil Verma, principal secretary of the self help group and self employment department, has been appointed vice chairman.

The eleven others members of the commission are Dr Sukumar Mukherjee, Dr Gopal Krishna Dhali, Dr Avijit Chowdhury, Dr Makhanlal Saha, Dr Madhusudan Banerjee, Dr Moitreyee Banerjee and the director of medical education. Sanghamitra Ghosh, secretary of the health and family welfare department, is in the committee along with senior police officers like ADG (Law and Order) Anuj Sharma and Praveen Kumar Tripathi, deputy commissioner (South) of the Kolkata Police. Madhabi Das, a representative of nurses, is also a member of the commission.

Banerjee said there are no political figures in the commission and it would be working impartially. "Last night governor had given his assent to the bill and without losing any time since health is a very important sector. The commission will start functioning very soon. If the Chairman joins after retirement, the vice chairman will be carrying forward the work of the commission," said Banerjee adding that separate committees for respective districts would set up under district magistrates to monitor and supervise health services in clinical establishments. The committee has to submit its report to the Chief Medical Officer Health (CMOH) in its respective district.

With setting up of the commission, the people will get a platform to highlight grievances in cases of medical negligence. There will be an awareness campaign to educate people on the process of filing complaints.

Replying to a question on the stand of Indian Medical Association (IMA) to move court against the West Bengal Clinical Establishments (registration, regulation and Transparency) Bill, Banerjee said: "It is their choice if they want to go to Court. But why they are opposing this? It is for those who will flout norms. Good people are supporting the bill."

She added; "Health service is not like real estate business. One can never sell health services. They shouldn't overcharge patients so that their family members are forced to sell out all their properties to clear hospital bills."

On the question of some private health care units threatening to quit the state, the CM said: "Bengal is not a place to carry out business by blackmailing. It is a place that promotes business of goodwill and I support good organisations."