Alleged Threat Culture, Exam Malpractices at NBMCH: Dean, Assistant Dean resigns after protests

Siliguri: After junior doctors and students at North Bengal Medical College & Hospital (NBMCH) staged a demonstration demanding the removal of Dr Avik Dey and accused the Dean and other authorities of corruption, Dr Sandeep Sengupta, the Dean of Student Affairs, and Dr Sudipta Shil, the Assistant Dean, resigned from their positions due to mounting pressure from the protesting doctors. 

This comes after the junior doctors and students at NNMCH raised their voices against the ongoing culture of threats, systemic corruption, exam malpractices and malpractices such as mark sheet tampering within the institution.

The students held a day-long protest on Wednesday morning demanding the resignation of the deans accusing them of being involved with corruption within the institution and being closely associated with Dr Avik De, a former student of the NBMCH and a first-year PGT in SSKM Hospital, Calcutta who is currently under suspension and Dr Sandip Ghosh, former principal of RG Kar Medical College Hospital. 

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They alleged that Sengupta and Shil had encouraged such malpractices carried out by Avik Dey. Moreover, they accused Dr Sengupta of tampering with exam results and threatening those who resisted.

The protesting doctors on Wednesday afternoon gheraoed the Principal's office confining him along with Sengupta and Shil questioning them about the presence of doctors associated with the Trinamul Chhatra Parishad (TMCP). They claimed that their safety at the institute was being compromised as they were threatened by Avik de and two other deans on multiple occasions. 

It came to light that Dr Avik de frequently visited NBMCH despite not being a trainee doctor at the institute. The college authorities deputed him as an “observer” during exams. Following this, he was accused of indulging in malpractices to help students who were close to him during the exams. He, along with some others, would threaten students and junior doctors if they raised protests.

Medical Dialogues team recently reported that the West Bengal Health Department suspended Dr Avik De, the resident medical officer (RMO) in the radiodiagnosis department of Burdwan Medical College, and Dr Birupaksha Biswas, the senior resident doctor attached to the pathology department of the same hospital due to multiple allegations of misconduct and alleged involvement with the North Bengal Lobby.

They are also known to be close confidants of the controversial former principal of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, Sandip Ghosh, who is presently in the custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for his alleged involvement in financial irregularities at the state-run hospital when he in charge of its affairs.

Tendering his resignation, Sengupta told The Telegraph, “I have resigned from the dean's post and from now on, I am only a faculty member of the gynaecology department. The assistant dean has resigned from his post. We have done it because the students and junior doctors wanted it. Let me reassert that I was not involved in corruption." Although he had admitted that Dey used to call him during exams but denied involvement in any malpractice related to the exams.

NBMCH debarred four staff

In response to the rising concerns of the protesting doctors, the college administration has expelled four persons including - Avik De, a Postgraduate Trainee, IPGMER, Saheen Sarkar, general surgery department house staff, Soham Mondal, an intern and Nilabjo Ghosh, RMO of neuro medicine department. 

A notice issued by the medical college mentioned, “The college authorities have noted with serious concern about the reported existence of the threat culture at NBMCH, and are committed to conduct high-level enquiries against various allegations made by students and residents. Accordingly, it has been decided to expel the alleged threat-creating entities, from the college campus as well as the hostel Campus. “

As per the NBMCH official notice, the expulsion also includes a restriction barring these individuals from participating in any college activities, except when summoned for the ongoing inquiry or by higher authorities, as per News Careers 360 report. 

Meanwhile, the principal of NBMCH has constituted a five-member committee to investigate the allegations and concerns raised by the protesters. It will be headed by Sanjay Kumar Mallick, the vice-principal and medical superintendent of the NBMCH. The committee has been instructed to file its first report by Monday. 

On the other hand, the principal has formally notified the directorate of medical education (DME), about the decision to file an FIR against the four expelled persons.

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