Calcutta:
The West Bengal Health and Family Welfare Department has cancelled the transfer orders of 42 doctors amid ongoing outrage and protests following the rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on Saturday.
Addressing a press conference, Principal Secretary of the World Bank’s Department of Health and Family Welfare, Narayan Swaroop Nigam, said, “Given the current situation, we need to maintain normal service in all sectors. Therefore, we have decided to cancel these transfer orders for now. Further decisions on the matter will be taken in a few days.”
He explained that the transfer process was part of the promotion exercise within the Medical Education Service, a lengthy process that began two months ago.
Mr Nigam also noted that approval for these transfers had been given long before the incident.
“In West Bengal, the promotional exercise of Medical Education Service, including routine transfers, is a lengthy process. This process started two months before this incident and the approvals were completed several days before. However, due to the need for thorough scrutiny, there may have been delays in issuing these orders,” he added.
Following the announcement, opposition leaders in the state criticised the West Bengal government and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, demanding her resignation and alleging that the order was a deliberate attempt to target protesting doctors and spread fear.
BJP’s National Information and Technology Ministry chief Amit Malviya took to social media platform X to say, “If West Bengal Health Department does not know what it is doing, then Health Minister Mamata Banerjee should resign. Withdrawing the transfer order of over 40 qualified senior doctors within 24 hours is a sinister ploy. The order was issued to target protesting doctors and spread fear and has now been withdrawn because it has served its intended purpose. But Mamata Banerjee should know that her attempts to quell the protests through unlawful means are only fuelling public anger.”
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and Union Minister of State Sukanta Majumdar also commented on X, saying, “The swift withdrawal of transfer orders for protesting doctors is a tactic to create fear and suppress dissent. Such moves only increase public anger, especially given that Kolkata Police is threatening those seeking justice online. If it cannot govern the state, it should resign.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
