Indian Medical Association (IMA), West Bengal state branch, on Tuesday has threatened to continue its fight for justice for the gruesome rape and murder of the 31-year-old woman postgraduate trainee (PGT) doctor inside her workplace, R G Kar Medical College Hospital.
While reacting to the state government’s decision to remove Vineet Goyal from the post of commissioner of police, Abhishek Gupta from the portfolio as deputy commissioner of police (DCP) in north division, Prof (Dr) Kaustav Nayek and Dr Debashis Halder as director of medical education (DME) and director of health services (DHS) respectively as per the charter of demands of the protesting junior doctors associated with state-run medical colleges and hospitals. The action committee of the IMA today said, “The meeting between the chief minister and the WBJDF has concluded. The government has accepted most of the demands of our juniors marking a significant victory for WBJDF and also the medical fraternity as a whole. However, the struggle is far from over, we must continue to fight for justice for our sister. Our goal is to ensure that all perpetrators of rape, murder and evidence tampering are identified and punished. We will not leave this battleground until this is achieved.”
Junior doctors, under the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF) have been organizing cease-work in OPDs of government medical colleges across the state demanding justice for the R G Kar Hospital incident and removal of Mr Goyal, Narayan Swaroop Nigam, principal secretary in charge of the health department, Prof Nayak and Dr Halder in connection with their alleged inaction for prompt and transparent investigations to probe the rape and murder of the young doctor.
“We also demand for the dissolution of the West Bengal medical Council. The council is the epicenter of threat culture, and until it is fully dismantled, this culture will persist. The IMA will continue its fight against this threat culture until the West Bengal is dissolved. We have learned that out of the 14 elected members, 5 have already resigned, 1 has passed away and one has been suspended. With the majority of the members being absent, we request the government to dissolve the council immediately,” the IMA in its press statement stated today.
The association has also assured to fight demanding reforms in the examination process in the four-and-a-half years undergraduate MBBS and postgraduate MD course, under the West Bengal University of Health Sciences (WBUHS).
“…the examination system has been severely compromised by the West Bengal Health University. Immediate reforms are necessary and Dr Suhrita Paul, under whose tenure these corruptions began, should be removed from all administrative roles, including the principal’s position. We urge the government to consider this with immediate effect,” the action committee of the association alleged.