Security on mind, state sanctions 1.5k more guards for 29 med colleges
Times of India | 19 September 2024
Kolkata: The state health department has asked hospital heads to start the process of hiring additional security for their respective campuses. In all, the government has sanctioned hiring of 1,514 additional security manpower — including 910 male and 604 female personnel — for 29 hospitals and medical colleges. The government said this step is towards enhancing security in all medical colleges in the wake of the R G Kar rape and murder.
Earlier, the health department had asked hospital administrations for input on additional security forces required after the government had formulated ‘Rattirer Sathi’, an initiative for improving security on hospital and medical college campuses. The agitating junior doctors, too, have been demanding better security coverage after which the govt decided to increase security personnel and CCTV camera coverage. The number of female and male security personnel has also been specified for each hospital in the order issued on Wednesday.
“This has been done keeping in mind the security concerns of junior doctors, nurses and other hospital staff. This, however, is only one of the steps for improving security arrangements. Other steps will follow from time to time,” said a state health official.
Medical colleges in Kolkata will get the higher share of the 1,514 additional manpower with 120 security personnel allotted to IPGMER alone. Health officials said that this was because SSKM gets the highest number of patients and it has annexes like the Sambhunath Pandit Hospital and Ramrik Hospital. R G Kar Medical College, where the crime happened, will get 85 more security personnel.
All medical colleges pointed out the number of additional security personnel allocated is only about half the number they have requisitioned for. For example, NRS Medical College that currently has 250 security personnel had requisitioned for 140 more but is getting only 75. Calcutta National Medical College had asked for 150 additional security persons in addition to its existing security strength of 150. It’s getting only 66. Medical College Hospital Kolkata’s existing security personnel strength is 244 for its main campus and annexes like Lady Dufferin Hospital and Mayo campus. It had asked for 238 additional personnel but only 75 have been allocated for them.
The Supreme Court had on Tuesday questioned Bengal govt’s ‘Rattirer Sathi’ for recruitment of 1,514 privately recruited persons to provide security at govt hospitals and observed that it might fall short of instilling a sense of safety among doctors.
Though senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Astha Sharma clarified the ‘Rattirer Sathi’ personnel would be in addition to police at hospitals, the bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra had expressed little confidence. The CJI said, “... the accused was drawn from the civic volunteer force. If you are replacing civic volunteers with another contractual force, who will be trained for seven days and then walk around all over the places in the hospital, it will give little sense of security to the young doctors, particularly the women doctors.”
“The govt resolution says the personnel will be recruited from outside agencies. They will be trained for a week by the police. Would anyone carry out their verification?” the bench said. “This is the first phase of implementing security revamp on hospital campuses,” said the health official.