'Threatened for not doing North Bengal lobbying': West Bengal Medical College Principals allege threats at IMA meeting

Kolkata: Amid the nationwide protest and administrative changes against the brutal rape and murder of the Postgraduate medico at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Heads of various medical colleges disclosed shocking information during a virtual meeting convened by the Bengal branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Wednesday. 

The meeting was convened to address the growing concerns within the medical community, and all heads of various medical colleges were called upon to attend. During the meeting, the heads of the medical colleges expressed their strong concerns about the safety and security of medical professionals, especially women. 

Around 15 principals of various government medical colleges attended the meeting and shared shocking information that had happened over the past months or years across medical colleges in the state. The attendees emphasized the need for constructive measures to ensure the protection and dignity of medical professionals and pledged to work together to find the right path forward.

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Sharing the events that occurred during the meeting, the action committee of IMA West Bengal issued a press release which mentioned that a woman principal recounted that a junior doctor officiating as a member of the penal and ethical committee of the West Bengal Medical Council threatened her for not doing the bidding of the "north Bengal lobby", purportedly named after their alma mater North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.

During the discussion, she revealed that the doctor had aggressively confronted her via phone call and called her a “bastard” due to her perceived inaction. The medical community expressed disbelief that such language was used and questioned how they could expect justice when such behaviour was allowed to go unchecked. It was further noted that this incident had reached the highest levels of medical administration, yet no disciplinary action was taken.

"We have zero expectation of justice when even a medical college principal does not feel safe at her workplace. What shocked us even more is the non-action from Swasthya Bhawan (the state health department headquarters) despite being informed by the principal (about what she faced). It is evident that the health department is run by power-hungry, blindfolded officials whose only worry is their next posting," stated the press release. 

Moreover, the current state of the medical education system was also criticized in the meeting with reports of exam papers being leaked before exams, students using mobile devices to cheat with the help of AI tools like ChatGPT.

A head of a medical college in North Bengal alleged that a faculty member had distributed exam questions to students before the examination. In response to these widespread issues, a teacher from North Bengal Teaching Hospital was removed as an invigilator in the middle of an exam. The teacher was later transferred to a remote area to prevent further influence.

Similarly, a principal of a suburban medical college pointed out that the 2024 exam papers showed a high degree of similarity and recommended that exams held this year be reviewed given the fact that at least 40% of the answer sheets were identical. 

Further, the association named two young doctors who were allegedly part of the lobby and mentioned at least one instance of an allegedly politically motivated transfer of a teacher from north Bengal to Kolkata.

"Such mass oppression can only happen when a large part of the system is corrupt and operates like an efficient cartel," added the association.  

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