The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken custody of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and the staff member of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Ashish Pandey, who was allegedly involved in tender irregularities at the government-run hospital.
Also, Pandey was allegedly the man behind the threat culture at the now-controversial medical college and hospital.
Threat culture's eradication is one of the main demands of the doctors protesting for justice for Abhaya (name changed), the 31-year-old female medic who was raped and murdered at RG Kar on August 9.
But what is this threat culture?
Where students are harassed into giving bribes, doing favours they don't want to, taking the 'twisted' way or outright threatened by certain corrupt "people" who act as mediators between the administration and the students. There are many loopholes and irregularities that help this threat culture to prevail.
When we tried to examine these irregularities, we came across a few serious allegations of threat culture and corruption at RG Kar.
"We were broken from the inside, but never let it show on our faces. We wanted to finish the internship, take our documents, and just leave RG Kar," shared a victim of the threat culture who was on the brink of losing her mental sanity after she was subjected to continuous harassemnt.
Deepika (name changed) takes us back to the year 2021, when a mass agitation against the then principal, Dr Sandip Ghosh, led to harsh consequences for the students. Notably, that was the year Dr Ghosh took charge and the culture of threat and corruption started to manifest itself in multiple and more pronounced ways.
What happened in 2021?
EdexLive learnt that several incidents triggered students to launch agitations against Dr Ghosh, demanding his resignation.
As per reports, the agitation in 2021, which received support from professors and senior doctors, included rallies and an indefinite strike but gradually subsided due to the worsening health condition of the protesting students and the government turning a blind eye to the matter.
According to Deepika, the incidents which compelled doctors to protest are:
1. In 2021, when the COVID pandemic hit the world and students were at home, principal Dr Ghosh informed them about the shifting of the common rooms/dormitory accommodating first-year students in the female hostel.
"Belongings were moved in our absence, and 20 beds were adjusted in a two-bedroom quarter," Deepika stressed, emphasising the issue of space constrains.
2. Another issue highlighted by Deepika is about the 'counter' student union formed by Ashish Pandey, who was the former president of RG Kar's Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), the student wing of All India Trinamool Congress which is currently in power in West Bengal.
It is alleged that despite the presence of a student union, Pandey formed a separate body which, surprisingly for the students, had been approved by Principal Dr Ghosh.
With Dr Ghosh taking no note of the students' complaints, the medicos launched a mass agitation, for which, they had to pay heavily.
Beginnings of the repercussions
The boy hostellers were agitated by the threats and hooliganism. "The boys were threatened, saying, 'This is not your room, as you are not in it'," she added, reminding us that it was during COVID, when we were all isolated at our homes when this incident unfolded.
One of the affected medicos, who recently completed an internship and is waiting for housestaffship, Raghu (name changed), claimed, "When I participated in the rally against the new student union, Ashish Pandey's group started spying on me along with others who were a part of it. Following which, my belongings from the hostel room I occupied were removed without my knowledge."
"My complaints to the principal and the police only resulted in my identity being compromised. Therefore, I filed a complaint with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) Commission. Thereafter, a committee consisting of Dr Ghosh's close aides was formed. No surprises that the report is yet to be released," Raghu disclosed.
Deepika further alleged that as they participated in the protests, threats were issued that they would be deliberately failed in exams. They were even issued threats that policemen would visit their homes.
Moreover, it is alleged that the completion certificates of all those students who protested against Dr Ghosh were withheld by Dr Ghish himself. "Mercifully, because of the August 9 Abhaya incident, a new principal took charge and I received my certificates on time," Deepika remarked.
Failed in viva
Protestors were targetted mercilessly.
Deepika continues to narrate her ordeal and shares, "I will never forget my VIVA. I was asked questions on topics that were unrelated to my case study. However, I gave my best and I was sure I would pass. But they failed me. I am convinced of the fact that I was deliberately asked questions unrelated to my field of study."
"I was failed in my third year and my final year. I had to shift my family from my hometown to Kolkata in my fourth year, as I wanted to study from home after being mentally disturbed by the threat culture at RG Kar," said Deepika.
Threat culture
It is learnt that the threat culture was prevalent in RG Kar from much before but in the year 2021, it started rearing its ugly face more often.
"There are no audits for any cultural event or fests organised in the college. Earlier, the students were courageous enough to seek details about the audit, however, the threat culture has changed this scenario," Deepika claims.
'Ashish Pandey and his gang', is the only phrase the students used to describe the perpetrators behind the threat culture. It is alleged that since his gang members were on the organising committee, students were not even in a position to point out audit lapses and corruption.
A few of the incidents reported by victims are:
- Ashish Pandey and his team have a separate set of rules for fests which doesn't permit anyone else to participate in the activities
- Earning a seat for housestaffship is challenging; they allot seats to those who support the gang
For the unversed, housestaffship, which is pursued after the internship, is a position in a medical college or hospital with a stipend.
Naturally, holding the position of a housestaff is hectic, to say the least, with no holidays or off days on the horizon. In such cases, housestaffs are known to pull in favours and request acquaintances to take up their duties once in a while on an hourly basis at the most.
Taking advantage of this, the gang would extort money from those who were keen on acquiring the housestaff position. The engaged housestaff would have to shell out Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000 for the same.
When it comes to housestaffship, making an important point, an MBBS doctor, Dr Abhinaba Pal, said, "Pandey was accused of corruption on several occasions, including receiving a housestaff position that he did not earn. Aside from that, he was a prominent member of the RG Kar threat syndicate."
"Following the Abhaya incident, he and the other TMCCP members prevented residents and students from other colleges from entering RG Kar and prevented them from participating in General Body Meetings (GBMs)," he added.
Lobby of threat culture
In Pal's opinion, threat culture has been prevalent in several government-run medical colleges in West Bengal. "Recently, this culture has been promoted by a certain lobby and its disciples, also known as the 'North Bengal Lobby'."
He further claims that this lobby is headed by the likes of Dr Sandip Ghosh, former principal RG Kar; Dr Sudipto Roy, TMC MLA; West Bengal Medical Council-WBMC President, and RKS (Rogi Kalyan Samiti), Chairman, Dr Susanta Roy (WBMC VP). In addition to these prominent figures, there are others, including Dr Avik De and Birupaksha Biswas, who are under the CBI banner.
As per Pal, the threat culture includes activities like:
- Extortion of huge amounts of money for college fests and programmes. If students don't shell out this amount, they are often harassed or beaten up
- Exam paper leaks and security-free exams
- Giving honours to students who were close to the lobby (which was mainly the TMCP units of the different colleges)
- Taking money to help students cheat
The threat culture activities at hospitals include:
- Forcing doctors to prescribe certain drugs only
- Fake MRI screening to earn commission
- Rigging and corruption in housestaffship counselling
- Taking commission by outsourcing blood and other clinical investigations
"Anyone who would raise their voice or oppose these acts would be subjected to harassment, threats, and at times, physical assault as well!" he concluded.
