Kolkata doctor rape-murder case: RG Kar super removed but doctors, students demand principal's scalp
Times of India | 12 August 2024
Doctors and students protest on R G Kar campus on Sunday KOLKATA: Giving in to the demands of the agitating junior doctors, the state health department on Sunday removed R G Kar Medical College and Hospital medical superintendent and vice principal Sanjay Bashistha from his post. He has been transferred to Calcutta National Medical College as a professor in the physiology department. Bulbul Mukhopadhyay, former dean of student affairs of R G Kar, has taken over as the new vice principal and superintendent of the hospital, where a post-graduate trainee was brutally raped and murdered early on Friday, sparking protests across medical colleges in the city and state.
The protesting resident and junior doctors on Friday had also demanded resignations of principal Sandip Ghosh, the chest medicine head and the ACP of Kolkata Police outpost on the hospital campus, setting a 12-hour deadline for their ouster.After meeting the agitators, Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goyal said ACP Chandan Guha has been removed immediately, and said the other demands were also being looked into. But the students remained adamant on the ouster of the hospital principal and the chest medicine head.
"Shunting out the MSVP is only an eyewash. The first head that should roll is that of the current principal. We demand his immediate removal and we are going to intensify our agitation until our demands are met," said a protesting junior doctor.
Various doctors' organizations have been asking for the removal of the principal. The demand has turned louder with bodies like the Association of Health Service Doctors West Bengal (AHSDWB), West Bengal Doctors' Forum and the Service Doctors Forum also putting in pressure. They said they stood by the demands of the agitating doctors.
"The MSVP is a scapegoat. Every allegation of irregularities in R G Kar in recent years revolves around the principal. He should be removed with immediate effect," said surgery professor Manas Gumta of AHSDWB.
Even the agitating resident doctors of IPGMER have also demanded Ghosh's ouster.
The R G Kar protesters have also demanded that the SIT formed to investigate the crime should reveal the details of the probe. A judicial inquiry has also been demanded along with adequate compensation to the family of the deceased doctor.
Hassan Mushtaq, a protesting junior doctor, said, "We demanded a written apology and resignation of the principal, MSVP, chest medicine HOD and the on-duty ACP of R G Kar Medical College police outpost within 12 hours. We are happy that the process has begun but we want the resignation of all officials who failed to protect our colleague."
Even as the doctors' stir continued to rock R G Kar on Sunday, the medics claimed that their agitation has not affected treatment. The hospital's emergency department, though, remained shut on Sunday.
TOI tried to contact Ghosh for his reaction on Sunday but he didn't respond. On Saturday, he had said that the deceased PGT was 'like a daughter to me'. "The unfortunate incident has put me and the entire hospital administration in deep shock. We are trying to address the security and amenity concerns of our resident and junior doctors," Ghosh had said.