West Bengal Health Minister Shadrawat Mukhopadhyay expressed displeasure during a surprise inspection of Bardhaman Medical College and Hospital, after finding slogans written during the RG Kar protest still visible on the walls of the principal’s office.
The minister visited the hospital late on Thursday and continued his inspection throughout Friday. During the visit, he stressed the need to end the alleged “threat culture” in medical colleges.
After completing a two-day inspection of Bardhaman Medical College Hospital, the Health Minister gave the hospital zero out of ten for cleanliness. He also outlined several plans for improvement and made a number of announcements during his visit.
Minister gives seven day deadline
According to the minister, several slogans had been written during the RG Kar movement and remained on the walls of the principal’s office.
Expressing his displeasure, Mukhopadhyay directed that the writings be removed within seven days. He questioned whether such protest writings would be made inside one’s own home.
“I have not made this request as the Health Minister, but as a guardian of senior doctors and students,” the minister said.
He added that students would be provided with a designated space for writing or displaying their views. He said a steel frame could be installed for such purposes and appealed to the students to remove the existing graffiti.
Threat culture out, trust in
During his visit, Mukhopadhyay repeatedly stressed his message of “threat culture out, trust in.” The minister said allegations of a “threat culture” had surfaced at several medical colleges and hospitals in the state, particularly following the RG Kar case.
On overall hospital security, he said,
At least one-third of the total security staff should be women. Surveillance across the hostel and hospital, along with monitoring of the CCTV control room, also needs to be strengthened.
He also advocated introducing a badge system to clearly identify patients and their attendants in order to curb the activities of alleged middlemen.
To prevent irregularities in patient transportation and overcharging, the minister also proposed launching an app-based ambulance service, similar to Ola and Uber, with fares fixed according to the distance travelled.
Minister questions postgraduate attendance
The minister also raised questions about Abhik De’s postgraduate course and alleged attendance records. Referring to Anamoy Hospital, the super-speciality wing of Bardhaman Medical College Hospital, Mukhopadhyay questioned whether De had actually attended postgraduate classes there.
He claimed that attempts to examine the attendance register had revealed that the register itself was missing.
Allegations of record manipulation
The minister alleged that De had never marked attendance at Anamoy Hospital and claimed that records relating to his postgraduate degree, including attendance and duty records, had been manipulated.
Mukhopadhyay alleged that changes were made to duty assignments and records to facilitate the postgraduate degree. The minister’s remarks came during his inspection of the hospital, where he reiterated his call for an institutional environment based on trust rather than fear.
