Recruitment row: Docs seek ouster of job board chair
Times of India | 20 January 2026
Kolkata: While the larger medical community expressed concerns over irregularities in medical teacher recruitment, a doctors' association went further, demanding the removal of the chairperson of the West Bengal Health Recruitment Board. On Monday, the Association of Health Service Doctors' (AHSD) West Bengal wrote to the chief minister — who also holds the health portfolio — urging her to remove the current WBHRB chairperson.
A few days ago, the WBHRB faced criticism from the larger medical community after releasing the panel of assistant professors to be deputed to medical colleges. Several doctors' organisations flagged two names on the list, questioning their eligibility and alleging that one was under suspension and the other under scrutiny for financial fraud.
One, a postgraduate in pathology who was serving as a senior resident, had been suspended during the RG Kar movement. The other was a biochemistry PG. Sources said an inquiry was pending against the latter — the son of a West Bengal Medical Council official — for drawing dual remuneration from the govt.
Caught on the back foot, the board withdrew the pathology panel list for SC candidates.
The AHSD alleged unabated irregularities, lack of transparency and nepotism in the board, whose current chairperson is MLA Sudipto Roy. "The sanctity of this institution, mandated to select the backbone of our state's healthcare infrastructure, is currently under severe threat," the letter stated. Doctors' organisations also alleged a lack of transparency in recruiting RMOs and specialist medical officers.
"We are requesting dissolution of the current WBHRB leadership and appointing a neutral, non-political academic or administrator of impeccable integrity as chairman," said Utpal Bandyopadhyay, general secretary, AHSD, West Bengal.