The newly appointed principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Suhrita Paul, has been removed from her post. The government’s move came after a delegation of students met officials at the Swasthya Bhavan.
The medical students had held a footmarch from the CGO Complex (CBI office) to Swasthya Bhavan and demanded that the new principal be removed. The protesting doctors had seconded the demand.
Her transfer is seen as a conciliatory gesture on part of the government, which had appointed the health ministry official to the post on August 12 – the day it also transferred RG Kar’s Sandip Ghosh to the premier Calcutta’s National Medical College.
That latter move had backfired, with stern criticism coming from the Calcutta High Court, escalation of student protests that started over the rape-murder of a young doctor on August 9 and drawing the attention of the Supreme Court.
Like Sandip Ghosh at the National Medical College, Suhrita Paul did not gain acceptance of the protesting students and just three days after the appointment, had a face-off with them.
After the midnight vandalism at the hospital on August 15, Suhrita Paul lost her cool with the students. As the protesting doctors demanded that she take immediate action regarding the midnight mob attack and meet the students’ demands, Ms Paul retorted, “If you can’t trust me for one hour then send me home also”.
The reference was to the fate of her predecessor Sandip Ghosh, who has been sent on a long leave by the Calcutta High Court, which was furious over his new posting less than 12 hours after his resignation.
“I need one hour to do some official work. You need to believe me, I won’t go. You have to believe me. If you can’t believe me then don’t expect anything from me,” Suhrita Paul had said.
The protesting doctors have made it clear that they are not willing to relent till their demands are met.
