Malda Medical College has been placed under a scheduled monitoring arrangement by the district administration, triggering opposition from doctors’ organisations that say the move interferes with the authority of the medical college’s principal and the state health department.
An order issued by the Health and Family Welfare Department under the Malda district magistrate’s office states that four administrative officers will monitor administrative work and patient services at the medical college four days a week in the public interest. The officers will submit daily reports to the additional district magistrate in charge of health.
According to the directive, WBCS officer Rani Bhattacharya will carry out the monitoring on Mondays, while WBCS officer Rinji Lamu Sherpa will be responsible on Tuesdays. Shreyasi Maiti and Swati Chakraborty have been assigned Thursdays and Fridays. The additional district magistrate in charge of health is also scheduled to visit the medical college every Wednesday.
The directive bears the signature of Malda District Magistrate Rajanvir Singh Kapoor. Its wording, a copy of which was reviewed by Anandabazar.com, states that the arrangement took effect from the day it was issued and would remain in force until further instructions.
The order has led to concern among doctors in Malda and across West Bengal’s government health system. Doctors’ organisations have argued that the principal is responsible for the administration of a government medical college, while the vice-principal assists in reviewing hospital services. They said that any shortcomings in administration or patient care should ordinarily be addressed through the district health department or the state health department.
Utpal Bandyopadhyay, secretary of the Association of Health Service Doctors, said the responsibilities of different departments were already defined within the administrative structure. He questioned the district administration’s authority to monitor a medical college hospital and said oversight of hospital operations should rest with the state health department. He also pointed to the absence of the district chief medical officer’s signature on the directive.
Biplab Chandra, state secretary of the Medical Service Centre, described the arrangement as an expression of distrust in the existing hospital administration. He said creating a parallel system could complicate the functioning of health services rather than improve patient care.
The immediate trigger for the order appears to have been a photograph showing unclean conditions in the paediatric department that circulated on social media. The post tagged Chief Minister Shuvendu Adhikari, after which the state health department sought a report from medical college principal Parthapratim Mukhopadhyay. The principal has said that a report was submitted to senior officials in the health department.
The medical college also has 177 contract workers who, according to the report, have not received their salaries for two months. The workers have attributed the delay to the contractor’s failure, while the issue has reportedly been communicated to the state health department.
The principal declined to comment on the monitoring team but acknowledged that the order had caused resentment among doctors. A senior district administration official said a final decision on inspections had not yet been taken and that the arrangement would be settled after discussions with the district health department. The written directive, however, states that the monitoring system had already come into effect and would continue until a further order.
