IIT Kharagpur :: Exposure of Frauds, Irregularities :: A Few illustrative sample cases

Some shocking facts found on the internet (original link given at last):

1.     IIT Kharagpur (KGP) Director, Prof. D. Acharya is recommended major penalty, by CBI in AICTE scam. In spite of his own indictment, Prof. Acharya suspended whistleblower Prof. Kumar when this dormant matter became public. There are many instances of Prof. Acharya submitting ‘patently false’ information, malafidely & maliciously, in official documents.


2.   A CBI enquiry is pending in running of a fake Institute with alleged involvement of IIT KGP’s past/current directors (Prof. K.L. Chopra, Prof. S.K, Dube, Prof. D. Acharya), officiating registrar (Dr. T.K. Ghosal), then CVO (Prof. A.K. Ghosh) and current CVO (Prof. B.K. Mathur), and many senior professors, who are the alleged complicit.

3.      Irregularities and favoritism in the appointments of the Registrar, Dr T.K. Ghosal, by past and current directors (Prof. K.L. Chopra, Prof. S.K, Dube, Prof. D. Acharya). Director Prof. Acharya misled CVC by submitting a wrong report and got the matter closed. Dr T.K. Ghosal’s son was appointed as a Network Engineer (Group A post) by Director Acharya by ignoring many meritorious applicants.

4.     IIT Patna Director, Prof. A.K. Bhowmick, the then IIT KGP Dean, was recommended major penalty, by CBI, in Coal-Net Scam. It’s a mystery how Prof. Bhowmick got CVC clearance to be appointed as an IIT Director being indicted for a major penalty by CBI. CAG remarked that the implementation of the Coal-net remained unfruitful even after 7 years and spending Rs. 39.58 crore. Others indicted professors were awarded too.

5.      IIT KGP Dean, Prof. P.P. Chakrabarti, was recommended penalty by CBI in the same Coal-net Scam. Instead, Prof. Chakrabarti was promoted and is continuing as the Dean, SRIC for almost a decade. Prof. Chakrabarti is embroiled in mis-appropriating IPRs, in which the technology was allegedly transferred to Indian Railway in violation of the non-disclosure. Tens of millions of public fund is being spent in defending his individual legal suits in US court. No sanction was taken from Ext. Affair Ministry. Dean SRIC and Officials suppressed most details.

6.   IIT KGP Deputy Director, Prof. A.K. Mazumdar, Chairman Purchase Comm., in Laptop Scam, ignored hugely cheaper laptop (Rs 69 K) which matches best with the specifications. Instead, IIT approved laptop at exorbitant rates (Rs 107 K) of the same make, when laptop’s demand was in hundreds. Prof. Mazumdar siphoned millions for his spouse from his and his protege (computer science dept. Head & Prof. Jayanta Mukhopadyay)’s project funds.

7.      IIT KGP Dean, Prof. S.K. Som, with Chairmen JEE, falsely submitted that there were no admissions, in IIT KGP, without JEE’s merit list, though there were hundreds of such admissions done, including wards of the ex-Deputy Director Prof. M. Chakraborty (current IIT Bhubneshwar Director) and the then JEE Chairman, Prof. V.K. Tewari.

8.    IIT KGP Dean, Prof. P.K.J. Mohapatra’s alleged role in M.Tech. 2010 admission irregularities, in which admission details were suppressed by submitting patently false information that the admissions were not based onGATE score.

9.      IIT Faculty nexus with GATE coaching classes: computer science Prof. I. Sengupta was associated with a Kolkata GATE coaching while his spouse, Prof. D. Roychowdhury was a question paper setter of Computer Science GATE.

10.  Admissions of the wards of IIT KGP’s Administrators, including Directors, Deputy Director, Deans, Professor-In-Charges, GATE/JEE Chairmen, etc. is a routine affair in IIT KGP.

11.  A ward of IIT KGP’s past Director, Prof. S.K. Dube, was caught for impersonating in JEE.

12.  IIT KGP is a serial violator of RTI. Not a single out of 3 dozen applications, was ever dealt in accordance with RTI Act. None of the CIC orders was ever completely complied by the IIT.

13.  IIT Chairman, Mr. Shiv Nadar’s SSN College of Engineering was accredited by discarding Experts’ reports. It is not understood why Mr. Nadar’s College is not under CBI Scanner. It may be noted that the Director Acharya is indicted for a major penalty by CBI for an identical favor.

14.  No action on any of the CBI, CVC or CAG reports/complaints was ever taken by the IIT.  Call details of Kumar’s personal cell phone are being acquired by IIT.

(eklavyajee06.blogspot.in)
-------------------------------- कोई भी मूल्य एवं संस्कृति तब तक जीवित नहीं रह सकती जब तक वह आचरण में नहीं है.

Reply to Prof Kanchan Chowdhury’s letter

Mr Ranjan Khastgir, alumnus (Batch of ‘57) replies to Prof. Kanchan Chowdhury’s letter .

Dear Kanchan,

While I fully endorse your views that at the micro level, mismanagement is certainly a cause for the students current plight, at the macro level the responsibility squarely lies with politicians like Arjun Singh and his ilk, who have played caste based politics only for appeasing their vote banks and have almost exponentially inflated the number of IITs, as well as the number of students, with utter disregard to the infra structure and without a thought to maintain, if not upgrade, the declining facilities being provided to them. This has caused utter chaos and will almost certainly bring down the quality of students passing out from the IITs and thus negate the present standing of IIT graduates as world class engineers and technologists.

Having been closely associated with the IIT Alumni Association as well as the current faculty, I have full faith in our present faculty members like Prof Madhusudan Chakraborty, Acting director, Prof Amit Patra, Dean (Alumni Affairs), Prof. B. K. Mathur and their likes. However unless they are given a free hand and full budgetary support, how can we expect them to improve the facilities for the students?

Incidentally, even during our days during the 50’s student demonstrations at IIT KGP were not unheard of, but perhaps not known widely, because of the absence of so many rounds-the clock news channels. We remember demonstrating before the Director’s bungalow, wrapped only in towels, when taps ran dry while we were taking baths at our respective Halls of residence. However, there was certainly no violence or destructive action. The mild violence that has been reported in the media after the tragic death of Rohit is perhaps only a sign of the times, when students with political affiliations create havoc at campuses in Kolkata , with or without any valid cause, provoked by their political masters with the sole objective of coming to power and harvesting money. Compared to such incidents, the demonstrations by the students of IIT KGP, were not only mild, but certainly for a just cause. We are thankful that politicians have still not been able to infiltrate and pollute student activities at IIT KGP.

Let all IITians, past and present, unite to do whatever that is possible to overthrow politicians of the day practicing vote bank politics at the cost of meritocracy at Institutions of academic excellence like the IITs, IIMs and premier medical institutions like AIIMS. Improving living conditions of the students should be an important part of this programme. Donations to associations like Technology Foundation and similar bodies should be put on hold, unless they can show what they are doing to improve the living condition of students with the money they are receiving in abundance from the Alumni, both in India and abroad.

Yours sincerely,
Ranjan Khastgir
1957 B.Tech.(Mech), Azad Hall

(The Scholars' Avenue)

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कोई भी मूल्य एवं संस्कृति तब तक जीवित नहीं रह सकती जब तक वह आचरण में नहीं है.

Letter from Alumnus

Below we reproduce a letter written by Prof. Kanchan Chowdhury. Originally posted as a comment it is reproduced here to bring it to the attention of the public.

I am a B. Tech. (Mechanical), Patel Hall, 1973-78 and Ph.D., B.C. Roy Hall, 1979-83. Currently a Professor at Cryogenic Engineering and also, President, IIT Kharagpur Teachers’ Association. Opinion given herein is my personal and necessarily does not reflect that of teachers body IITTA.

I came back at the campus 4 days after Rohit died due to our neglect and heard about the students’ reaction expressing their strong emotion at the Director’s residence. Since, I am also a Professor at IIT and President of the Teachers’ Association, I chose to give our reaction to the current situation in the form of a memorandum submitted to the Chairman, BOG on the 27th March, 2009. However, the alumnus in me has forced me to write this mail to Scholars Avenue.

1. Nobody supports violence. However, to those who are castigating the students for ransacking the Director’s residence, let me tell you that such an incident is not unprecedented at IIT Kharagpur. 33 years ago, in 1976, during the tenure of Prof. C S Jha, the exterior of Director’s residence was ransacked (though on a lower scale) by agitating students aggrieved on mess condition. The difference between 1976 and today is that during our time media was not so active. That is why the incident did not find that attention and has been forgotten.
In spite of many strikes and agitations, we could do nothing to change the condition of the mess and hostel.

2. Medical neglect and death due to negligence is not new at IIT campus. Students are not the only victims. In front of my own eyes, wife of a professor died gasping for breadth, because the ambulance (!) by which she was brought to B C Roy Hospital from her home after an asthmatic attack did not have oxygen cylinder fitted in. In spite of murmurs and talks, nothing happened. When students complain that they are left into the jaws of death, are they really wrong?

3. After becoming a faculty here, I thought I will do something for the students for which I suffered as a student myself. In 1994, I became the Warden of a Hall. I found how the food is stolen and how students’ money is doled out to appease local political party. I tried to stop these practices, but vested interest grouped against me and I was asked to resign. I refused, as I was sure that I am on the right track. Finally, after 90 days of assuming charge, I was sacked by Chairman, Hall Management Committee without citing any reason.
When the students complain that the system is corrupt, are they really far from truth?

4. Though it is true that it is the system that is at the root of all trouble, I completely agree with the students that for any incident, such as Rohit’s death, which may be a lapse of the system, “heads must roll”. Because, in case we assume that the system is doing everything, those particular heads are not important enough to linger on to the chair any way. And in case the heads were doing it and not the system, they must take the responsibility for their action or inaction. Anyway, these are the heads that allowed such a system to perpetuate. Otherwise, in democracy, how shall I make myself being heard? To those who are crying hoarse telling that everything is lost about IIT’s reputation, let me ask you what we have achieved by remaining calm and disciplined for so many years. We have to preserve the brand name called “IIT”. But, Rohit could be my son, your son. Is it not too heavy a price to pay for so-called IIT brand name, when the Ministry of HRD has already decided to dilute the brand by establishing about two dozens of IITs within a short span of time and huddled the students like cattle in rooms by increasing the intake before the infrastructure was in place?

5. We failed in our time as we could not sustain our tempo and were disorganized. Please go through the letter that the students have submitted to Chairman, BOG on the 27th March, 2009 and you will be amazed at the maturity of the tone and language. Students, please be assured that, you are much better than what we were 30 years ago. But, please focus on the final goal and I wish you all the best.

6. Teachers at IIT are deeply agitated for the way they are treated and feel alienated at all levels. Because of the lack of clear path towards professional advancement and absence of campus amenities such as school, college and hospital, IIT Kharagpur is lagging far behind in attracting the brightest and the best as the faculty. I am duty-bound, as the President of the Teachers Association to highlight these issues in the coming days and they will be done. For your records, I am appending the text of the memorandum that we submitted to Chairman, BOG (through acting Director, IIT) on the 27th March, 2009 as a reaction to the recent incident:

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IIT KHARAGPUR

27 March 2009

Joint Memorandum submitted to the Honourable Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT Kharagpur by Teachers, Employees and Officers

1. IIT community deeply mourns the sad demise of young Rohit Kumar prematurely. The incidents that took place on the 22nd of March 2009, were also unfortunate and needs to be avoided in future. The members of the IIT community feel that though it was triggered by the sad death of Rohit Kumar, but was in fact an expression of cumulative grievances. While we are pained by the undesirable behavior of the students, we urge upon all concerned to establish better rapport with the students and initiate creation of a congenial atmosphere through discussions with the students, taking their feelings in confidence and initiate measures to address their needs of better health-care and better living conditions in the halls, without further delay. The message that the students are a pivotal and integral part of the IIT community and that they will never be considered adversaries must be widely communicated.

2. Concrete steps to revamp the health care system, by trying all avenues including participation of private hospitals should be undertaken immediately. The planning must include the right medical professionals in the process. There is a need to document in no uncertain terms the limited capabilities of the B. C. Roy hospital and also the list of medical emergencies where the risk factor in offering proper health care to the community substantially shoots up. This knowledge must be available to each and every member of the community including the students. Immediate short-term measures such as round the clock availability of doctors, filling up all vacant positions in the hospital by competent and able persons, must be immediately addressed. The doctors of the B. C. Roy hospital should also be taken into confidence, to understand the problems they face in the current infrastructure.

3. It must be ensured that all further expansion proposals with respect to students’ intake must be kept in complete abeyance, till the proper infrastructure development and manpower deployment are actually put in place. The student facilities and amenities, such as reasonable accommodation, food, water supply and medical services should be looked into first. Till these aspects are taken care of and proper infrastructure required for further expansion in intake is put in place, the expansion trend should be stopped immediately to avoid a potential recurrence of the previous Sunday in an Institution which claims International standing . IIT must intimate the MHRD accordingly, and insist upon it to permit IIT Kharagpur to carry forward its hard earned legacy of quality and fair treatment.

Professor Kanchan Chowdhury (chowdhury.kanchan(at)gmail.com)
President, IITTA
President, (TEAK)
President, IITEU

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 28th, 2009 at 23:39 and is filed under Campus Events.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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 Responses to “Letter from Alumnus”

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 Anon Says:
March 29th, 2009 at 18:37

1. I am also a KGP alumunus and I am a part of the system working here. Kudos to Prof. Kanchan Choudhry for calling a spade a spade.

2. I urge that the students remain united and fight for their rights undaunted. Do not succumb to divisive forces which are now working very actively to create a divide amongst the students.

3.The system at IIT KGP vests power in the hands of a few. We have a single person holding mutiple important portfolios, like both Dean ship & Head ship, GATE chairman/ Transport incharge to name a few. Is there a dearth of people that a single man has to handle multiple important things? Such ‘important people’ are neither doing justice to their teaching or their administrative responsibilities. It should be a one man one portfolio with full accountability, whatever the portfolio. Before this incident how many students knew who was the Hospital committe chairman or the transport committee chairman?

4. Go ahead and have a sound legal cell (do not get the Adminstration’s (mis)advice) to advise on all matters relating to academics, health care, insurance and other important services in the campus.

Wishing the student community all the best in their endevaour. Remember, you are the main component of the system. None of us would have existed here but for you.

(The Scholars' Avenue)

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कोई भी मूल्य एवं संस्कृति तब तक जीवित नहीं रह सकती जब तक वह आचरण में नहीं है.

आई. आई. टी. खड़गपुर - कहाँ से कहाँ तक

IIT-KGP अब बाजारवाद का शिकार बन कर रह गया है...... भाँति-भाँति के courses शुरू तो किये गए और किए जा रहे हैं पर बात-बात में अपने को Premier Institute बताने वाला यह संस्थान अभी भी मूलभूत आवश्यकताओं से ही जूझ रहा है. यहाँ के प्रबंधन में अब राजनैतिक प्रभाव अधिक हो गया है. जिसे संस्थान और छात्रों से अधिक अपने विकास की चिंता है. गत २ वर्षों में जितने भी निर्णय लिये गये उनमें से अधिकतर यहाँ छात्र जीवन में बाधक ही प्रमाणित हुये हैं. जिसका प्रभाव छात्रों के विकास पर पड़ रहा है. अभी हाल ही में घटी घटनायें इन सबका प्रमाण हैं. राजनेताओं की भाँति यहाँ के क्षत्रप भी लीपा-पोती में लगे हुये हैं.

पर इन सबके पीछे एक बात स्प्ष्ट दिख रही है..... आगामी चुनाव तक स्थिति को कैसे भी काबू में रखा जाए.

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कोई भी मूल्य एवं संस्कृति तब तक जीवित नहीं रह सकती जब तक वह आचरण में नहीं है.

एक सप्ताह बाद

Mr. Muthuraman (Chairman, BOG) came to meet the students regarding Rohit's death - what caused it and what followed it. He has not taken any decision yet but has assured us on the following points:

1: An enquiry committee headed by a person who does not have any connection with the institute.

2: Proper medical and health care facilities to be put up in KGP in collaboration with the industries in the area.

3: Filing of FIR by the institute regarding the event.

4: Assessment of BCRTH by Dr. AK Ray from Tata Main Hosp. Jamshedpur.

He asked us for our faith in him regarding the removal of the director and DOSA. Alumni support as expressed on websites and emails presented are with the director. But he said that the decision would be his and only his - without any outside pressure.

Regarding Tomar: He was clear that he was in favour of just one event getting investigated i.e. Rohit. He did not know of any other events such as that of Tomar or Mithun.

I believe that what is to come will not be what we are fighting for - other than the hospital. But there is some hope - we have given him proofs for the BCRTH issue getting raised time and again since 2005 and the administration's deaf ear to it.

I suggest that we wait for a verdict from Mr. Muthuraman on the resignations and the enquiry committee that he shall now constitute.

(Shreyas Ashok Karkhedkar से साभार)
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कोई भी मूल्य एवं संस्कृति तब तक जीवित नहीं रह सकती जब तक वह आचरण में नहीं है.

Latest Update

A peaceful candlelight condolence march was organized by the students in the evening at 7 PM. The students who had gathered in large numbers walked from the Gymkhana and placed candles around the Bidhan Chowk in front of the institute main building.

Meanwhile, the supposed address by the registrar to the students was only a rumour. The entire student community has been informed of the minutes of the meeting held between the student representatives and the administration through notices. The exact status on the resignations of the Director and Dean of Students’ Affairs is yet to be known. The arrival of the Board of Governors Chairman Dr. Muthuraman would be keenly awaited in this regard since the director’s resignation needs to be ratified by the Board of Governors before being forwarded to the HRD Ministry.

All classes will resume starting from tomorrow. The second meeting of the student representatives and the administration is scheduled to take place on Friday to look into the progress on the implementation of proposed reforms. The status of Gymkhana elections is obviously of the least concern at this point and hence no decision has been taken in this regard.

Also, regarding the construction of the multi-speciality hospital, the foundation stone for which was laid by ex-president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, it is to be noted that it was the Government and not the institute administration that cancelled the funding; and hence it would be wrong to blame the administration for the same. The institute can be expected to push for this proposal now, in the wake of the present happenings.

We at The Scholars’ Avenue appeal to all students to maintain calm and trust us to keep you updated with authentic information as it comes.
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कोई भी मूल्य एवं संस्कृति तब तक जीवित नहीं रह सकती जब तक वह आचरण में नहीं है.

Minutes of the meeting held on 23rd March 2009

The following were present

1) Prof. M. Chakraborty, Director (Acting)
2) Dr. D. Gunasekaran, Registrar
3) Prof. P.P. Chakrabarti, Member, Board of Governors & Dean, SRIC
4) Prof. Sanat K. Ray, Member, Board of Governors
5) Prof. S.K. Som, Dean, Under Graduate Studies
6) Prof. R.N. Datta, Dean, Faculty & Planning
7) Prof. Amit Patra, Dean, Alumni Affairs & International Relations
8) Prof. Manish Bhattacharya, President, Technology Students’ Gymkhana
9) Prof. S.K. Bhattacharyya, Chairman, Civil Construction & Maintenance
10) Prof. N.R. Mandal, Head, Dept. of Ocean Engg. & Naval Architecture
11) Prof. A. K. Ghosh, Head, Dept. of Biotechnology
12) Prof. A.K. Chattopadhyay, Head, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
13) Prof. B. Maity, Professor-in-Charge, Transport
14) Dr. N. K. Som, Head, B.C. Roy Technology Hospital
15) Mr. U. P. Singh, Security Officer
16) Mr. Arnav, Vice-President, Technology Students’ Gymkhana
17) Other Student Representatives

The following were the points discussed and resolved :
1. One-man Enquiry Committee be appointed preferably with a retired High Court Level Judge to enquire into entire episode of 22nd March 2009 leading to the resignation of Prof. D. Acharya as Director of the Institute. However necessary permission for appointment will be obtained. The Enquiry Committee shall be given thirty days from the date of appointment for the work.

2. Prof. N.R. Mandal, Head, Dept. of Ocean Engineering & Naval Architecture be requested to coordinate with the district hospital, local authorities and parents of Rohit Kumar and also render all assistance to his parents.

3. Mr. N.R. Maity, Deputy Registrar (Academic) be requested to coordinate on behalf of the students with Insurance Company to expedite the claim processing including the present case of Rohit Kumar. Mr. Kumar Ritwik, one of the students will be a students’ coordinator for all students insurance policy matters. One responsible employee of the Institute be appointed as Liaison Officer for the purpose of Insurance Policy related matters like admitting in hospital, ambulance arrangement, payments, filing of claims, etc. He will work under the overall supervision of the Deputy Registrar, Academic.

4. Institute has been making all efforts to have a Multi-speciality Hospital at IIT Kharagpur during the past few years. The following hospital/individual were contacted in this connection:
a) Narayana Hrudalaya, Bangaloreb)
b) Kanchi Kamkoti Trust, Kanchipuramc)
c) Sri Satya Sai Central Trust, Puttabarthyd)
d) Apollo Group, Hyderabade)
e) Manipal Hospital, Manipalf)
f) Dr. Satadal Saha, Jubilant First Trust Healthcare Ltd., Kolkata.

A committee of representatives from RBI Salboni, Tata Metaliks, Jindal Steel, AFS Kalaikunda, AFS Salua, Bharat Forge, Tata Hitachi, Tata Bearing, S.E. Railway, State Hospital, Midnapore Medical College & Hospital have been involved in the discussion. However, we are yet to reach a final shape on the issue.

5. Simultaneously, a 24X7 pharmacy can be set up at B.C. Roy Technology Hospital and operationalised within 30 days.

6. A Diagnostic Centre be set up at IIT Kharagpur. The Diagnostic Centre shall be managed by a professional group. In the meantime the existing pathology laboratories at the hospital be upgraded. Dr. N.K. Som will prepare a blueprint of the proposed upgradation of pathology unit at B.C. Roy Technology Hospital including manpower requirements. This blueprint should be done with 15 days.

7. Some of the NGOs/Trusts for exploring the possibility of providing medical facility at IIT Kharagpur. Students may also help identify possible NGO/Trusts in this regard. Institute will work towards setting up a hospital at Kharagpur, to be run by a professional group who specializes in this area.

8. Commanding Officer, AFS Kalaikunda, be contacted for possible use of the medical facility availability there by IIT Kharagpur community including Air Ambulance, if available.

9. The following committee be appointed to work out the number and type of ambulances required :
Prof. B. Maiti, Dept. of Mechanical Engg. - Chairman
Prof. M. Bhattacharyya, President, TSG - Member
Mr. Alok, Students’ Representative - Member
A student with medical background - Member
They should submit the report including full specification for purchase by 31st March 2009. The procurement etc. shall be initiated by 1st week of April 2009.

10. Head, B.C. Roy Technology Hospital should ensure that the doctors and staff make conscious efforts to win the confidence of campus community.

11. The existing hospital management committee shall be expanded incorporating Vice President TSG and four other students to be nominated by Vice President.

12. Prof. B.K. Mathur be requested to crate a web based suggestions/complaint box for B.C. Roy Technology Hospital. The suggestions/complaints received shall be placed to the committee for immediate redressal. Prof. Mathur with the help of BCRTH doctors may also provide the medical data base of doctors/diagnostic centres/hospitals at Kharagpur/Midnapore and Kolkata to the community including the web.

13. An alert-helpline be created in the emergency of B.C. Roy Technology Hospital in line with helpline created by Security Section. Institute shall provide additional manpower for helpline and rendering other assistance to emergency patients.

14. The emergency unit should have a round the clock medical officer. The Institute will advertise Medical Officer positions to be filled on contract basis to overcome the present situation. We can also explore getting doctors on deputation from central/state governments.

15. Institute should appoint an external professional agency/expert to study the present facilities at BCRTH and suggest possible improvements.

16. Chairman BoG, Mr. B. Muthuraman, who is abroad, has been apprised and is deeply concerned. He is planning to return as soon as possible and will come to IIT Kharagpur immediately on return. He has asked a senior doctor of Tata Main Hospital to immediately come to IIT Kharagpur to assess the BCRT Hospital’s working.

17. Institute decided to send a message of condolence to the parents of Rohit Kumar.
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कोई भी मूल्य एवं संस्कृति तब तक जीवित नहीं रह सकती जब तक वह आचरण में नहीं है.

What the hell is going on here!

The Incident

This Sunday, the 22nd of March, shall go down as a black day in the history of IIT, Kharagpur. It was with great sadness and considerable anger that the residents of the campus received news of the demise of one of its own; third year Electrical Engineering student, Rohit Kumar. A resident of the LLR Hall of Residence, Rohit had been visiting the hospital since Friday, the 20th of March, complaining of headaches. On Sunday, the headaches became increasingly painful and it was on his way back from the doctor that he fainted and fell from the rickshaw, resulting in major injuries.

Following this, he was taken to BC Roy hospital by two students of LLR. The doctor on duty (who was present at the time when Rohit was taken to the hospital), Dr. N.K. Som, recommended that he be taken to Apollo Hospital, Kolkata and shown to a neurosurgeon. He stated that BC Roy did not have facilities to handle such cases and that it was best to take him to Kolkata as soon as possible. However, problems (such as filling of petrol) and the extensive paperwork involved in arranging an ambulance caused a delay of 2 hours during the course of which nothing much could be done.

He was finally sent on his way to Kolkata with 2 students for company and an untrained attendant. En route it was realized that though the oxygen mask had been placed over his mouth, the tank had still not been turned on. Soon after this, Rohit started coughing up blood. The students who accompanied him had the attendant call up Dr. Som and the students followed his instructions; pumping out blood without any help from the attendant. At the time, it was decided to take Rohit to the Spandan Hospital in Midnapore since his condition was deteriorating rapidly. In spite of asking the BC Roy officials to call ahead and inform Spandan of the impending arrival, there was no one there to receive them. By the time a doctor was found, Rohit had passed away and the hospital declared him dead on arrival. At present, his body lies in the mortuary at Midnapore medical college.

Questions and Answers

There are a lot of questions being asked and a lot of unfounded rumours flying around. Some of these questions can be answered and some of the rumours quashed. One of the major questions being asked is about the absence of a trained medico in the ambulance. The rules of BC Roy stipulate that no doctor can accompany a person in the ambulance. Unbelievable but a possible reason for this is that since there is only one doctor on duty, such action would mean that the hospital is left unmanned.

Another confirmed fact is that the doctor was present when Rohit was taken to the hospital. All delays were entirely due to the unavailability of an ambulance. The problems with the ambulances were apparent a week earlier when Mithun Madhusudhan, a 4th year student had to be taken to Kolkata for an operation after he fractured both his hands. At that time, the ambulance broke down and could move only in reverse gear. This is a very serious problem that hopefully will be corrected at the earliest.

The Reaction

An incident such as this, calls for the strongest possible reaction, and it was with this intent that the students on campus walked out of their hostels in protest. A crowd started forming with about 100-150 people gathered in front of the Director’s Bungalow demanding an audience and a strong reaction from the man in charge. Unfortunately, he delayed addressing the gathering, which had by then grown to nearly a 1000 people, all of whom were getting angrier and more restive by the minute. The Director’s subsequent equivocation about committees and ‘looking into the matter’ only made matters worse, as students understood these to be standard bureaucratic responses that were ineffective. Convinced that the authorities had still not correctly gauged the frustration and anguish of the students, they took matters to the next level. As tempers ran high and numbers swelled, an already dark day became uglier as the students resorted to destruction of property in a bid to demonstrate their anger. At all times, however, there was a strict student-enforced cordon around the officials, to pre-empt possibilities of physical assault. Such student conduct, while admittedly regrettable, seemed to be what caused the authorities to realize the gravity of the situation.

The Fallout

The raw emotion displayed by the students finally convinced the Director to step down after prolonged protests from the students. This came after nearly four hours of deliberation during which the students took to ransacking the director’s residence, smashing window panes and his car. Soon after at about 8 p.m., the Deputy Director convened an emergency meeting of all the Heads of Departments, Deans and student representatives to work out an immediate action plan to resolve the crisis. The points decided upon in the meeting are as follows:

1. An independent commission composed of doctors from AIIMS/Apollo and other such medical institutions of repute must be setup to examine the current state of affairs and issue recommendations that must necessarily be followed.
2. An external independent enquiry commission composed of civil servants (possibly members of the judiciary and IPS officers) must be setup in order to fix responsibility.
3. B.C. Roy Hospital is to have better trained staff henceforth.
4. The Institute will procure 5 new state of the art ambulances and these should be allowed to transport patients without waiting for the requisite paperwork to be completed.
5. A database of all specialists in and around Kharagpur should be maintained and freely accessible.
6. The Institute must pursue tie-ups with medical NGOs and nearby hospitals so that students can avail emergency medical care when needed.
7. Deputation of central government doctors to Kharagpur must be looked into.
8. The facilities must be upgraded so as to handle emergencies and at least 2 qualified emergency doctors must be present at all times (including weekends, off hours and night time).
9. There must be greater transparency in the hospital’s operation. A review committee made of students, professors and one emeritus professor nominated by students, must be formed with the authority to review the progress at BC Roy every 15 days,
10. Revision of pay scales for doctors in employ of BC Roy so as to attract better doctors.
11. Adequate compensation for Rohit’s Family

The points put forward by the student representatives regarding the improvements in medical facilities at B.C. Roy Hospital were read out in an unprecedented jam-packed open session held at the Tagore Open Air Theater. Unfortunately, here too emotions were running high and the lack of discernible strong action and resolve on the part of the administration did nothing to help the situation. The situation spiraled rapidly out of control into one where the nearly 4,000 strong crowd demanded the resignation of the Dean of Student Affairs and the Chairman of the BC Roy Hospital, which turned out to be the Deputy Director. All this was in spite of the fact that the Deputy Director agreed to all suggested changes. In the end, the Dean of Student Affairs, in principle, resigned and the Deputy Director has also resigned from his post as the Chairman, B.C. Roy Hospital.

A meeting with student representatives from all halls of residence will be held on Monday morning at 10.00 a.m. to implement the proposed action plan. The deliberations and outcome of these committee meetings will be made public and available for everyone to view (on notice boards and on The Scholars’ Avenue). This committee will be meeting every 15 days in order to review progress and these progress reports shall also be made public. Such a move towards greater transparency is indeed heartening. Classes on Monday, the 23rd of March, have been cancelled in mourning as a mark of respect for Rohit. Monday shall also witness a candle light procession from the Gymkhana to the Main Gate at 6 p.m.

Implications

While many resignations were demanded and many tendered in the heat of the moment, the long term implications of the day will only become clear once the dust settles. The details of violence at the Director’s residence will eventually take precedence in this topic in the national media, taking focus off its cause – the complete absence of effective protocols and facilities at the B.C. Roy Hospital. This might have thus squandered an excellent opportunity to draw the attention of the national media and force the authorities at the highest level to implement concrete steps to make B.C. Roy a place to get better, not worse.

It was indeed heartening to see the entire student community come out in unison to protest the death of a fellow student. However, there is an urgent need to channelize this spirit in the right direction so as to achieve what it set out to do. We need a better hospital on campus, not mass resignations from officials and destruction of public property. We need positive action from the authorities, not negative action from the students. Rejoicing at the suspension of classes is downright despicable in a situation such as this. A serious question that must be asked is, “Have we become what we condemned the most; the stirs and protests that plague Bengal?”

The urgency of the problem is now amply clear to the authorities, and now it is time to work constructively with them to resolve the issue. Each one should play his part by informing the authorities of the improvements he has in mind through his respective hall representatives. It is imperative that any pictures or videos depicting violence or people engaged in such acts be suppressed. Negative publicity, especially in the national media, can only take us away from the goal of standardizing the systems for medical aid. Non-violent methods of protest are the need of the hour and it is best to refrain from mob behavior in the coming days. They will truly define how we KGPians, as a student community, respond to a crisis of such an unprecedented magnitude. Let us not forget that we are torchbearers of a premier institute of the country and that our duty to maintain the dignity of the institute is as important as our right to proper healthcare.

We, at The Scholars’ Avenue will continue to bring updates as the story unfolds. We urge all the faculty and alumni who are reading this to put pressure on the administration, via their own channels, to help improve medical facilities on campus. Let Rohit not have died in vain.

Disclaimer:

All information contained in the article above has been verified from people who were at the scene. This is the true version of events.

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कोई भी मूल्य एवं संस्कृति तब तक जीवित नहीं रह सकती जब तक वह आचरण में नहीं है.