KOLKATA: Agitating junior doctors and students have put pressure on those who were allegedly part of the ‘riot’.North Bengal Taking action against the ‘lobby’ in medical colleges, an FIR has been lodged against three doctors – Birupaksha Biswas, Avik Dey and Ranjit Saha – all linked to the ‘North Bengal lobby’ and close associates of the former minister RG Tax principal Sandip Ghosh – At Bowbazar Police Station.
The police have compiled all the complaints in an FIR and registered a case under Section 351 (assault, gesture or preparation which causes a person to believe that criminal force is being used on him) of the BNS.
What is North Bengal lobby?
➤ The ‘North Bengal lobby’ refers to a group of officials and doctors working in government hospitals and medical colleges. This shadowy group has been dominating newspaper headlines, social media posts and canteen conversations since August 9, when a young RG Kar doctor was raped and murdered at her workplace. Here, we try to decipher what it is and who it comprises for readers who are not familiar with the group.
➤ This is not a geographical identity. The name tries to define a group of doctors who are close associates of an orthopaedic surgeon passed out of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH). Many of the doctors owing allegiance to the group and its leader may not have been students of NBMCH. And not all those who passed out from this prestigious medical college belong to this lobby.
How does this work?
➤The North Bengal lobby, according to its critics and senior state health officials, has come to control the day-to-day functioning of government hospitals and medical colleges. Its influence over the health administration goes far beyond the number of its members or official designations. For example, the lobby has decided on several transfers and “penal” postings of those who refuse to toe the line as well as transfers to “prestigious” institutions or departments for those who need to be rewarded.
➤ Senior officials of the state health department have blamed the North Bengal lobby for almost all the controversial decisions taken in recent times. An example of this is the posting of Sandip Ghosh, former principal of the now discredited RG Kar. He was transferred out of RG Kar twice. State Health Department He has held this position several times in the last few years, but each time he gets back the important post within a few days or weeks. Senior health department officials believe this has been possible only because he is an important part of the North Bengal lobby.
Many of these decisions appear irrational or illogical and circumvent the normal hierarchy of the health department. The names of some of the beneficiaries of the largesse of the North Bengal lobby have recently surfaced in the mainstream media; they include Avik Dey, Birupaksha Biswas, Sushanta Roy and Suhrita Paul. The names of some of these doctors have also surfaced repeatedly in connection with the attempt to cover up the RG tax crime.
What is RG Tax Link?
Health department officials say RG Kar, more than any other medical college and hospital, has been under the control of the North Bengal lobby. A section of the hospital staff blames former principal Ghosh for being its leader.
Hospital officials say that several of those named in the cover-up case were also seen near the crime scene. These include Biswas, Dey and Ray. None of them had any direct connection with RG Kar (for example, one worked in Burdwan, which is about 110 km away), but they were often seen on the premises.
➤ Senior officials of the state health department say the RG Kar complex had become the unofficial headquarters of the North Bengal lobby for some time. “We are not surprised by the scale of corruption and misgovernance at this hospital, which has led to miscreants being admitted to the hospital. sanjay roy“The prime accused in the rape-murder case has so much control over the premises and its day-to-day affairs,” said a senior health department official.
Two doctors associated with ‘North Bengal lobby’ suspended
➤ Earlier, the state health department had suspended two doctors, Avik Dey and Birupaksha Biswas, who have become a topic of discussion in medical colleges across the state. The names of these two are prominently visible in the posters of ‘health syndicate’ put up in medical colleges recently.
Both are also believed to be close associates of RG Kar’s former principal Sandip Ghosh. Dey is the man in a red T-shirt at the crime scene, who was described by Kolkata Police as a fingerprint expert, which was challenged by IMA Bengal. He used to work as RMO at Burdwan Medical College, now a first-year surgery student. PGT In IPGMER.
Senior resident pathology doctor Birupaksha Biswas is also embroiled in controversy. Junior doctors said he was also present in the RG car on August 9, even though he had no right to be there. An audio clip has gone viral in which he is heard threatening other students and junior doctors, while Biswas has said it was AI-generated.
He was shifted from Burdwan Medical College to Kakdwip Sub-Divisional Hospital in August last year, but his release order was issued only on Tuesday. There were protests at Kakdwip hospital over his transfer.
