The state health department led by the chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee has clipped the wings of Dr Nirmal Majhi, minister of state for labour and chairman of Rogi Kalyan Samiti (RKS) of three premier state-run teaching hospitals ~ Medical College Hospital (MCH), N R S Medical College Hospital and B C Roy Post Graduate Institute of Paediatric Sciences (B C Roy Children Hospital).

Dr Majhi has been removed as the RKS head of both N R S Medical College Hospital and B C Roy Children Hospital. He remains head of the RKS at the MCH. Dr Santanu Sen, Trinamul Congress MP in Rajya Sabha, will replace Dr Majhi in the post of RKS chairman of N R S Medical College Hospital, sources in the health department at Swasthya Bhavan said. But nothing has been decided about who will take the charge of the RKS at the B C Roy Children Hospital.

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“I have not yet received any official order from the government but heard about the development at N R S Hospital,” Dr Sen, who is now holding the post of RKS chairman of R G Kar Medical College Hospital, said. Dr Majhi was not available for comment. “No official communication in connection with the replacement of Dr Majhi has been made to us by the health department so far. But we have heard that Dr Sen will replace Dr Majhi as RKS chairman in our hospital,” said Dr Sourav Chatterjee, medical superintendent cum vice principal (MSVP) of NRS teaching hospital.

With this new assignment Dr Sen will look after the RKSs of both NRS and R G Kar hospitals. A Kalyan Rogi Kalyan Samiti (patients welfare committee) is a body that manages the affairs of state-run hospitals and looks after the welfare of patients. Dr Majhi was reportedly told by the chief minister on Friday during a meeting at her chamber in the state legislative Assembly to leave the post of chairman of the RKS at N R S Hospital.

Sources in the health department felt that Miss Banerjee was not happy with the statement made by Dr Majhi during a programme recently held at the Medical College Hospital where medical students had staged agitation shouting‘go back’ slogans against him. Dr Majhi responded to this while delivering his speech saying: “People bark behind when an elephant walks through the market.”