Kolkata, Oct 22 (IANS): The representatives of West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF) during their meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee handed over several crucial documents on how the state government had previously ignored complaints on the financial irregularities in R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital during the tenure of Sandip Ghosh as the principal.
The doctors had met the Chief Minister on Monday afternoon and during the meeting had handed over the documents.
A representative of WBJDF, the umbrella body of junior doctors, spearheading the movement against the ghastly rape and murder of a female colleague at the R.G. Kar in August, said their delegation has handed over the state government a 137-page document on this count.
“The documents not only show the instances of fund misappropriation with Sandip Ghosh as the principal but also how the state health department ignored complaints by whistleblowers,” said the WBJDF representative.
He added that the documents of details of instances of fund misappropriations like the purchase of machinery at more than double the prevailing market price then, misappropriation in the tendering process, allotting spaces to unlicensed entities to run businesses within the hospital premises against hefty commissions and utilizing hospital funds for purchasing personal items.
“The state health secretary cannot deny his responsibilities in the matter, especially, when such instances of misappropriations were brought to the notice of the same department several times. That is why we had been insisting on the replacement of the state health secretary since the beginning,” the WBJDF representative said.
Two central agencies namely the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are currently conducting parallel probes into the financial irregularities case. While CBI’s probe is court-directed and court-monitored, ED has made a suo motu entry after filing an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR).
There are also complaints against Sandip Ghosh about the smuggling of bio-medical wastes and selling of body organs of unidentified bodies at the R.G. Kar morgue.