RG Kar College former principal’s appointment at Calcutta NMC triggers massive protest

KOLKATA: The appointment of former Principal of RG Kar Medical College & Hospital, Prof Sandip Ghosh at Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata triggered massive protest on Tuesday as the students protested against the principal when West Bengal minister Javed Ahmed Khan and TMC MLA Swarna Kamal arrived here on Tuesday morning.

Dr Sandip Ghosh, who resigned from his post yesterday, was reassigned to Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital shortly after. Students alleged that it was extremely sad and unethical to reinstate the principal at Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital.

Students with folded hands demanded justice from the minister Javed Ahmed Khan and raised ‘Go Back’ slogans for Dr Sandip Ghosh. The students said that they did not want a similar incident like RG Kar Medical College & Hospital to be repeated here.

#WATCH | RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder incident | West Bengal minister Javed Ahmed Khan and TMC MLA Swarna Kamal Saha face protest by students at Calcutta National Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata, as they arrive here.

Principal of RG Kar Medical College… pic.twitter.com/CLKg6S5c8i

— ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2024

The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) has called for a nationwide shutdown of OPD services from Tuesday as a protest against the sexual assault and murder of a woman post-graduate trainee (PGT) doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, on August 9.

The Outpatient Department (OPD) at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata was shut as patients arrived for medical and health services and stood in a queue amid uncertainty over services. Patients standing in the queue said that he had been standing there for over two hours.

A patient said, “have been standing here for two hours. We don’t know if the hospital is open. Nobody has told us anything”.

On Monday, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) demanded an impartial thorough investigation of the case and punishment of the culprits from the West Bengal government. The IMA has written to Union Minister JP Nadda demanding a detailed inquiry into the conditions enabling the crime as well as the steps to improve the safety of doctors especially women in the workplace.

The IMA had given an ultimatum of two days on the above demands. “We submit to you our demand for the safe zone, defined security measures and Central Law on violence as deterrent measures. We hope you would consider our demands favourably in the light of the deteriorating ground situation”, the IMA letter reads.

The post-graduate trainee doctor was found raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. (ANI)