The West Bengal Health Department has cancelled the trainee reserve post of Dr Avik De, a doctor associated with the RG Kar Medical College controversy, after a second inquiry found no records confirming that he worked at Anamoy Hospital in Burdwan, the hospital cited to qualify for postgraduate admission through the service quota.
The decision was based on a report submitted by the second inquiry committee on September 2, according to Health Department sources quoted by Anandabazar. The order cancels De’s Medical Officer Trainee Reserve post in the surgery department at SSKM Hospital. However, the notification does not clearly state whether his postgraduate admission through the service quota has also been cancelled, leaving the status of that admission unresolved.
Under the Health Department’s rules, doctors employed in the state health service must work for at least three years in rural or difficult areas to qualify for postgraduate study through the service quota. The service quota also provides eligible government doctors with the opportunity to pursue higher education while remaining connected to the health service.
According to the report, De had submitted records showing work at Anamoy Hospital as evidence of rural service. Medical organisations had questioned whether the hospital met the conditions associated with rural or difficult-area service and had also alleged that there was no record of De working in its radiodiagnosis department as a resident medical officer.
The second inquiry committee reportedly examined statements from Anamoy Hospital’s superintendent, medical technologists in the radiodiagnosis department and contractual health workers. They said they had not seen De working at the hospital. The hospital superintendent, Shakuntala Sarkar, also told the committee that there was no record of De joining the institution, the report said.
A Health Education Department official quoted by Anandabazar said the documents submitted by De as proof of rural service were not valid and that this was the basis for cancelling the trainee reserve post. The official added that cancellation of the postgraduate service quota fell within the authority of the Director of Medical Education, while the trainee reserve post had been cancelled by the special secretary of the Health Education Department.
The distinction between the trainee reserve post and the postgraduate admission has prompted questions from doctors’ organisations. Kaushik Chaki, president of the West Bengal Doctors’ Forum, said the same reasoning used to cancel the trainee reserve post should lead to cancellation of De’s postgraduate admission. Manas Gumta of the Association of Health Service Doctors similarly said the admission should ordinarily be cancelled if the trainee reserve post had been withdrawn.
The matter follows earlier allegations surrounding government medical colleges in West Bengal, including claims of a ‘threat culture’ after the RG Kar case triggered protests by junior doctors and civil society groups. The first inquiry into De’s eligibility had also reportedly supported the concerns raised by doctors’ organisations. The latest action confirms the cancellation of the trainee reserve post; the Health Department’s position on the validity of De’s SSKM postgraduate admission remains to be clarified by the competent authority.
