Kolkata: Dr Chandramouli Jha should have graduated from R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata in 2022. But he only got his internship completion certificate in 2023 – after the Calcutta high court ordered the hospital to release it to him. An internship completion certificate is essential for obtaining a medical registration number, which in turn is a prerequisite for applying for housestaffship and practicing medicine. Jha says that his and a few others’ certificates were ‘withheld’ by the R.G. Kar authorities because they had participated in protests demanding smoother functioning of the college in 2021 – a participation that allegedly resulted in them receiving threats, low grades and coercion.
R.G. Kar is the same medical college where the rape and murder of a trainee doctor while she was on duty, on August 9, sent shockwaves across the nation, fuelling ongoing protests in West Bengal for the past three weeks. Now, multiple former students that The Wire spoke to have highlighted institutional mismanagement there – pointing to systemic bullying at one of Kolkata’s most prominent hospitals. Graduate doctors spoke of threats and an atmosphere of fear not just at the hospital but across medical education spheres in Bengal, and alleged the presence of a ‘North Bengal lobby’ close to the ruling Trinamool Congress party.
While similar allegations abound other key medical institutions in the country, from doctors’ and medical students’ accounts, the rot at R.G. Kar appears to have been alive much earlier than the August 2024 crime. It also emerges that R.G. Kar is but the tip of the iceberg.
‘Threats over a protest’
In 2021, R.G. Kar students had agitated for over four months, demanding a functional student union, transparent housestaffship selection process, and improved hospital infrastructure. Jha says that their peaceful protests were met with “threats of poor grades and police intervention.”
The Wire spoke to other students who participated in the protests – all of whom except Jha requested anonymity.
“The hospital authorities called our parents and threatened us,” one said. Another claimed that police cars were stationed outside the protesting students’ homes to intimidate them.
In the 2021 protest itself, students had called for the removal of Dr. Sandip Ghosh, the controversial principal of the college who was forced to resign in the aftermath of the crime but whose swift appointment in another premium Kolkata government medical college had raised questions on his connections with the government.
Students then – in an echo of protesting junior doctors now – had accused Ghosh of running the hospital like his personal fiefdom and asked for an investigation into the way he ran things. Despite hunger strikes lasting nearly a month and hospitalisations of several students, the state health department under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee paid little attention. Hospital authorities threatened them with legal action and the withholding of their medical registration.
Along with Chandramouli Jha, Dr. Mainak Roy, too, approached the Calcutta HC to get his internship document, after failing to get it after meeting the principal and appealing to the state health department.
“When we met the principal, he treated us with utter disrespect,” Roy says.
Jha says that he is named in six first information reports filed by Principal Ghosh. “Anyone who dares speak out against malpractices is transferred to remote areas. It’s as if the Trinamool Congress runs the whole show,” he says.
Also read: ‘Restrooms Without a Latch and Bolt’: The View From R.G. Kar Hospital
‘Transferred to North Bengal’
A senior professor who headed the clinical dermatology department at the hospital tells The Wire that he was transferred abruptly to North Bengal shortly after voicing support for the 2021 students’ protest. The doctor, considered an expert in his field, says he was reassigned to a facility without even a dermatology department.
“I had only five years left of my service, yet they sent me away from my hometown. I had a huge role in developing the dermatology outpatient department at R.G. Kar. At times I saw over 500 patients everyday without any interns,” said the doctor, who also requested anonymity.
The doctor said that threats from what is known as a “North Bengal lobby” are a well known factor in the state healthcare sector. In Kolkata, north Bengal is regarded as a ‘punishment posting’. The purported lobby reportedly comprises members of and people with close ties to the ruling TMC.
Two interns who are participating in the current protests against the trainee doctor’s rape and murder told The Wire that such threats have been issued to them as well.
An associate professor currently working at the hospital said that at times teachers have been handed lists of students who are to be failed, by the authorities. “Many of my colleagues who did not comply with their demands would be transferred,” the associate professor claims.
A former student said their partner was made to fail because the former student took part in protests.
“Friends and partners of other students who spoke out against the situation were punished for associating with us. We felt pressured to isolate ourselves socially. It was traumatic,” the former student adds.
It is almost common knowledge that an environment of fear pervades at the hospital. In August 20022, a medical student at R.G. Kar attempted to die by suicide due to alleged pressure from the college authorities and a section of students with links to the ruling party. The news was buried, say two of his collegemates whom The Wire spoke to.
Several doctors also spoke to The Wire of serious allegations of sexual harassment faced by female medical students, which are allegedly hushed up with threats of poor grades.
Akhtar Ali’s allegations against Sandip Ghosh
In March 2023, Akhtar Ali, a non-medical assistant superintendent at R.G. Kar, wrote a letter to the authorities accusing the principal of grave corruption, including illegal body trafficking and biomedical waste disposal. He was promptly transferred to Murshidabad Medical College. Ali next wrote to the State Vigilance Commission. He also named TMC MLA and Hospital Rogi Kalyan Samiti (Patient Welfare Organisation) president Dr. Sudipto Roy.
“Despite providing ample evidence to the health department, anti-corruption bureau, and State Vigilance Commission, no action was taken against the perpetrators,” Ali says. “Instead, I was targeted, harassed, and even received death threats. I filed complaints with the Kolkata Police Commissioner and the Chief Minister’s Office, but to no avail. Dr. Sandip Ghosh operated a mafia-like racket at the hospital with the help of Dr. Sudipto Roy,” he adds.
Ali’s allegations are now being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation.
In July 2023, Dr. Sandip Ghosh was transferred to Murshidabad Medical College but reinstated within 48 hours. He was transferred again in September 2023, but allegedly kept the principal’s office under lock and key, preventing the designated principal from entering it for a week. The TMC student wing staged protests opposing Ghosh’s transfer. The incident occurred while CM Banerjee was in Spain. Upon her return, Ghosh was reinstated at R.G. Kar Medical College.
Sandip Ghosh. The Calcutta HC building.
Three days after the murder of the doctor, Ghosh, who initially blamed the victim for going to the seminar hall at night, announced his resignation in a press conference. However, within four hours, the government appointed him as principal of Kolkata National Medical College – a decision that the Calcutta high court deemed a ‘reward’ for his actions. When Ghosh faced resistance at his new workplace, two senior TMC leaders including a minister intervened to manage the protesting students.
Medical education system in Bengal
Earlier this month, the Indian Medical Association’s Bengal branch issued a strong statement noting that the medical education system in the state has “collapsed completely”.
An excerpt from the Indian Medical Association’s statement.
Sabit Hussein, a student of the Kolkata Medical College and Hospital, who is spearheading the movement there, tells The Wire that malpractices in examinations are rampant. “While R.G. Kar is the epicentre of these irregularities, in the peripheral colleges, students with close links to the ruling party are allowed to cheat freely. There is no transparency in housestaffship,” Hussein says.
A doctor who studied at the Coochbehar Medical College says that he has personally seen ‘answer scripts’ being distributed 30 minutes into a first-year MBBS exam.
Those at the helm of such cheating rings are usually rewarded with plum posts, doctors say.
On Friday, August 30, a few women junior doctors at the Medinipur Medical College started sit-in protests alleging that they were forced to do an “item dance” for a TMCP leader in the college.
Marks discrepancies in a system which favours those close to the ruling TMC and especially the ‘North Bengal lobby’ is another issue often repeated by doctors The Wire spoke to.
Complaints filed by doctors and medical students, alleging high-handedness, bullying and coercion. Identifying information of the alleged victims has been removed with a white marker.
“Dr. Birupaksha Biswas has a history of repeated offences, with numerous allegations against him, including taking money for doctor transfers, involvement in illegal activities, and threatening college principals with abusive languages,” said Dr. Saurav Dutta, who is the convenor of the Action Committee formed by the IMA, Bengal Branch to look into the irregularities of the state medical system.
In a recently circulated audio clip, Biswas is allegedly heard threatening an intern about withholding their internship certificate, citing the case of Chandramouli Jha, quoted earlier. The Wire cannot confirm the authenticity of the audio clip.
An excerpt from the Indian Medical Association’s statement which mentions Birupaksha Biswas and Avik De.
Biswas, a prominent leader of the TMC student wing, holds an influential position in the West Bengal Medical Council, which is led by president Dr. Sudipta Roy and vice-president Dr. Sushanta Roy. The three, along with Dr. Avik De were reported to have been allegedly seen in the chest department of R.G. Kar Hospital on the day the trainee doctor’s body was found – even before the parents were allowed to see their daughter. The Wire has contacted Biswas and De and will update this report with their responses when received.
In 2020, the state government created a separate post and appointed Dr. Sushanta Roy, an ophthalmologist by profession, to the post of OSD for North Bengal. In 2021, the Association of Health Service Doctors, a body of doctors working in the state-run hospital accused Roy of “high handedness, authoritative diktat, showering ugly threats with political influence.”
“The recent irregularities exposed in the RG Kar incident are just a glimpse of the systemic corruption prevalent throughout the state’s medical system. To address this issue, the North Bengal lobby should be investigated and held accountable,” alleged Dr Manas Gumta, former secretary of the Association of Health Service Doctors.
In 2021, a woman doctor died by suicide after years of struggling with the state health department’s alleged refusal to transfer her to a city hospital to be closer to home to care for her autistic daughter. As many as 18 doctors working in government-run hospitals in North Bengal have left service in recent times due to unfavourable workplace conditions.
“In recent years, the North Bengal lobby has gained significant influence, dictating key decisions regarding transfers, recruitment, and promotions within the West Bengal Department of Health and Welfare, despite having no official affiliation. They enjoy extra-constitutional power, exemplified by R.G. Kar principal Dr. Sandip Ghosh, a key member of the lobby,” said Gumta.
With inputs from Zeeshan Kaskar.
