The students locked the CNMC principal’s room and sat on a dharna in front of it, asserting that they will not allow Dr Ghosh to be their new principal.

After the rape and murder of the doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, students had demanded the removal of Dr Ghosh as principal. However, the West Bengal health department was reluctant to remove him. On Monday morning, Dr Ghosh resigned from his post, only to be transferred as principal to CNMC within eight hours.

After his transfer order became public, protesting doctors upped their ante against Dr Ghosh.

Swarnakamal Saha, local MLA and chairman of the Rogi Kalyan Samiti, along with minister Javed Ahmed Khan were greeted with “go back” slogans when they reached CNMC in the morning. Saha told the protesters, “This is not desirable. We should sit and talk.”

One of the protesters then said, “We don’t want to make CNMC another RG Kar Medical College. We will not allow Ghosh to be the principal.”

Dr Ghosh, who had been under intense pressure due to the growing public outcry and mounting accusations of mismanagement and financial irregularities at the government-run Kolkata institute, attributed his resignation to “moral responsibility” and “political conspiracy”.

The Government had already removed the superintendent of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Sanjay Vashisth.

Addressing reporters to announce his resignation, Dr Ghosh said on Monday, “The sole demand of people of the state was my resignation. So I am resigning willingly and not under any pressure… I am being defamed on social media. Some people are spreading false accusations against me. Students are being provoked to seek my removal. The deceased doctor was like my child, and I want the guilty to be punished. As a parent, I am resigning.”

An orthopaedic professor, Dr Ghosh was appointed principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in mid-2021 after being promoted from his previous position at CNMC. While his tenure at CNMC was free from allegations, his stint as the principal was marked by controversies.

He was transferred from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on two occasions, only to be quickly reinstated. In May last year, he was transferred to Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital, but the health department revoked it within 48 hours.

In the second instance, he was transferred again to Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital, only to be returned within a month. The transfer followed a ragging incident in the college’s Manicktala Main Boys Hostel in which fingers were pointed at trainee doctors close to Dr Ghosh. He was transferred to Murshidabad Medical College on September 11, 2023. In October, he was back at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

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