West Bengal junior doctors allege threats after flagging mismanagement in stampede victims treatment

Kolkata: Following the Durga Puja pandal stampede that claimed 19 lives, junior doctors and interns at Medical College, Kolkata, have alleged continued threats and intimidation after raising concerns over alleged mismanagement and a lack of basic facilities while treating the injured. 

Debasish Haldar, a member of the West Bengal Junior Doctors Front (WBJDF), said that there was a constant attempt to attack the junior doctors and interns for speaking about the lack of facilities at the hospital and the mismanagement while they tried to treat the people injured in the stampede, reports the Daily. 

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Haldar said junior doctors had repeatedly raised concerns with the State Health Department about the lack of basic facilities at government hospitals. He alleged that instead of addressing these issues, the department and hospital administrations were attempting to politicise the controversy and shift the blame onto the protesting doctors.

The junior doctors further alleged that they had received threatening WhatsApp messages and that their family members had also been targeted in an attempt to intimidate them.

They accused the doctor, who was embroiled in controversy during the 2024 protests over the RG Kar rape and murder case, of threatening them following the recent stampede.

An intern at Medical College, Kolkata, filed a police complaint against the doctor by email with Bowbazar police station over the alleged threats.

During the RG Kar movement, several junior doctors had accused the doctor and others of being involved in the alleged threat culture in government hospitals. The latest allegations have renewed concerns among sections of the medical fraternity about whether the issues raised during that movement have been adequately addressed.

“Has the threat culture we protested against during the RG Kar incident really ended?” Mr. Haldar asked.

Responding to the allegations, West Bengal Health Minister Dr. Sharadwat Mukherjee said they did not represent the entire community and could not speak for all junior doctors and interns in government hospitals. The minister said, “Who made them the representatives of junior doctors and interns? This is a very small cohort of people and does not represent all junior doctors and interns in government hospitals. These are what we call ‘dimagi naxals’. They are self-proclaimed leaders. If there were no elections to make them leaders, then they cannot officially be called representatives,” reports the Hindu.

Several senior doctors have expressed solidarity with the junior doctors and interns, issuing joint statements in support of their concerns. They accused the state government of failing to address the underlying problems in public healthcare and conducting what they described as a witch-hunt against the protesting medical professionals.

Dr. Subarno Goswami, a senior member of the West Bengal unit of the Joint Doctors Forum, questioned the alleged practice of referring injured patients from government hospitals to private facilities.

The controversy began after a stampede at Chorbagan Sarbajanin Durga Puja on the night of October 17 left several people injured. The victims were rushed to Medical College, Kolkata, where junior doctors and interns subsequently raised concerns about the handling of the emergency and the availability of medical facilities.

At around 2 a.m. on October 18, the doctors held a press conference outside the hospital's Emergency building, raising allegations about the State's healthcare system and questioning the reported suggestion that families of injured patients be offered the option of treatment at private hospitals. 

“We were asked to give the families of patients the option of treating the injured at a private hospital... Medical College Kolkata is a tertiary hospital. How can a patient be referred from a tertiary hospital?” De said during the press conference.

The dispute escalated further after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari questioned why the junior doctors had held a press conference during duty hours.

According to the Hindu, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari questioned why junior doctors had held a press conference during duty hours and warned that action would be taken against them if they had been scheduled to be on duty. “I have asked the Health Minister and Health Secretary to submit a report on whether these doctors were on duty when they held the press conference in front of the media like political leaders,” Mr. Adhikari had said at Swastha Bhawan.

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