After Duty Roster Fiasco,West Bengal Medical College MS transferred, creates political storm

Kolkata -  The "routine" transfer of the superintendent of Murshidabad Medical College Hospital has set off a political storm in West Bengal with the opposition Congress and the BJP claiming he was shifted after an internal communication"about COVID-19 deaths got leaked.

The state''s ruling TMC dismissed the allegation as "baseless and politically motivated".

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The matter was first raised by the leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha and MP from Murshidabad district, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who claimed Debdas Saha was shunted out after an internal communication asking doctors not to classify the death of coronavirus positive patients as caused by COVID-19 got leaked.

Chowdhury shared the purported duty roster signed by Das on social media which said, "In case of COVID positive: no mention of COVID in D/C (death certificate)."

The authenticity of the duty roster shared by Chowdhury could not be independently verified by PTI.

The state health department issued an order late Wednesday night transfering Das to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.

"The MSVP (Medical Superintendent and Vice Principal) of Murshidabad Medical College Debdas Saha was transferred to North Bengal after this government order (duty roster) got leaked.

He was replaced by another doctor of Murshidabad Medical college.

"This transfer is an attempt by the state government to hide the truth.

The state government should come out with a clarification as to why he was transferred.

Was it due to the secret order on COVID deaths that got leaked?" Chowdhury said.

The Congress lawmaker alleged the state government was "hiding" data on COVID-19 ever since its outbreak.

"This is unacceptable. This tendency to hide the truth is only aggravating the crisis," he asserted.

West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh shared his view, and alleged that instead of focusing on treating the patients, the government was "more keen on hiding the facts and figures".

The Trinamool Congress rubbished the accusations.

"The allegations against the state government are politically motivated and baseless.

The opposition has no work other than to spread canards about routine transfers," a senior TMC leader said, insisting that he should not be named.

Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha, when asked by reporters to comment on the issue, said such transfers are taken care of by the health department.

"You should ask this question to the health department," he said curtly. 

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