A day before West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s scheduled meeting with healthcare professionals from private and state-run institutions, a coalition of doctors, including the Joint Platform of Doctors and Abhaya Mancha, sent her letter highlighting severe deficiencies in the state’s healthcare system and demanding immediate reforms.
Last year’s rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital has exposed long-standing flaws in the system.
The doctors argue that the healthcare system is plagued by corruption, a lack of democratic space, workplace anarchy, and a culture of intimidation. They accuse key regulatory bodies, such as the West Bengal Medical Council, the State Health University, and the Health Recruitment Board of “oppressive autocratic dominance” and dismantling ethical governance.
The letter, delivered ahead of a planned gathering at the Dhanadhanya Auditorium, Kolkata, emphasised the need for urgent infrastructure upgrades, transparent and merit-based decision-making, and an end to political interference in healthcare administration.
“We still believe that if transparent and rational administrative decisions are made without delay, it is certainly possible to restore the lost dignity of the healthcare system through permanent, scientific reforms and restructuring,” the letter stated, highlighting pervasive issues of corruption and threats within medical institutions.
The doctors warned that the healthcare system is at a “breaking point” and urged the chief minister to prevent a “catastrophic collapse”.
According to RTI data cited in the letter, about 40 per cent of doctor positions and nearly 70 per cent of paramedical and support staff positions remain vacant, based on the 1991 Establishment Table. This severe shortage makes it nearly impossible to maintain service quality and meet the growing healthcare demands of the public health sector. The situation is even more critical in medical education institutions, as per National Medical Council standards.
The letter criticised the bureaucratic approach to extending doctors’ working hours and entangling them in a “practice/non-practice” debate. The nature of medical service cannot be equated with that of a bureaucratic office job, they argued, emphasising the need to analyse the root causes of the crisis and implement permanent solutions.
The doctors said that recruitment in the healthcare sector had been stalled for a long time, with the OBC reservation case being misrepresented, creating confusion. They asserted that if there was genuine intent, necessary recruitments could have been conducted within the legal framework. The prolonged staffing crisis has placed an extreme burden on existing healthcare workers, leading to burnout and dissatisfaction.
“Furthermore, an immediate action plan for mental health support for overburdened medical professionals is essential. The failure to address these issues will jeopardise millions of lives and erode public trust,” the letter read.