What does legal history of RG Kar Medical College say about medical education in West Bengal

By Sumit Kumar Ganguly 
The R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH), has been in news for the past eight months because of the brutal gangrape and murder of a junior doctor inside the institution. Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer, was convicted and sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment for the crime in January. The downplaying of the gruesome murder initially as a ‘suicide’ by the college authorities and the destruction of the evidence by the state administration led to huge protests across the world. As the incident opened up a can of worms, exposing the criminal syndicate being run in the health department of West Bengal Government, the issue is no longer limited to this case. It has also refreshed the memories of the public about the saga of murder, suicides and unnatural deaths of students and faculty belonging to that medical college in the past two and a half decades.
The RGKMCH is one of the oldest medical colleges in undivided India. Being a curious lawyer, the author decided to delve into the history of the RGKMCH and the medical education in West Bengal. He came across a research paper titled “R.G.Kar Medical College, Kolkata—A Premiere Institute of India” which has been written brilliantly by five doctors. Dr. Radha Gobinda Kar, after whom the institution is currently named, returned from the United Kingdom in 1886. A great nationalist visionary, he sat with stalwarts like Dr. Mahendra Nath Banerjee, Dr. Akshay Kumar Datta, Dr. Bipin Maitra, Dr. Kumud Bhattacharya, Dr. M.L. Dey and Dr. B.B. Banerjee and The Calcutta School of Medicine was established in the same year.
In 1904, The Calcutta School of Medicine was merged with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Bengal. With the expansion of more departments alongside buildings, the institution was inaugurated as Belgachia Medical College in 1916. The first All-India Medical Conference was held at the RGKMCH in 1917 at the initiative of the then Bengal Medical Association. In 1918, the college was renamed as Carmichael Medical College after the Governor of Bengal as a symbol of gratitude. The Medical Education Society of West Bengal, a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, was constituted. Suresh Prasad became the first President of the institution while Dr. Radha Gobinda Kar was its first Secretary. In 1932, to treat the Calcutta University students suffering from non-infectious diseases, the institution fitted up the northern half of the Infirmary Buildings with ten beds. In 1939, the RGKMCH was affiliated to the Calcutta University for giving degrees in the Intermediate in Science Standard, under Section 21(3) of the Indian Universities Act, 1904, read with the Government of India’s Notification No. F55-I-vi-38E of 1938, in English, Bengali, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Botany, Zoology and Biology. On 12th May, 1948, the institution was again renamed, this time after its founder, and since then it is known by its current name. In 1949, the Barrackpore Branch of the Indian Medical Association in its Annual General Meeting resolved to donate ₹ 250/- to the RGKMCH.

 

Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy receiving Bharat Ratna 

Bharat Ratna Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, the famous doctor and the popular Chief Minister of West Bengal on whose birth and death anniversary (1st July), the National Doctor’s Day is celebrated in India, joined the RGKMCH in 1919 as the Professor of Medicine. As per his biography written by K.P. Thomas, Dr. Roy decided to resign suddenly from the Campbell Medical School to join the then Carmichael Medical College as that would ensure sanctioning affiliation of the institution by Syndicate of the Calcutta University. On 15th December, 1941, when the institution celebrated its Silver Jubilee, Dr. Roy was the President of the Medical Education Society of West Bengal. He continued to be Professor (On Leave) during his tenure as the Chief Minister. As per Suresh Chandra Dutta, the students and staff of RGKMCH raised ₹ 10,00,000/- for constructing the Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy Casualty Hospital to celebrate the occasion of him becoming the Chief Minister.
The RGKMCH was originally transferred and acquired by the State Government during the tenure of Dr. Roy. The West Bengal Government, through the Governor, promulgated the R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital Ordinance, 1958 under clause (1) of Article 213 of the Constitution as both houses of the State Legislature were not in session. The intention was to make better provision for the control, management and maintenance of the RGKMCH in public interest for promoting public health and “to take over for that purpose for a limited period the management of all the property belonging to the said institution”.
When the Bill was introduced in the State Legislature to replace the Ordinance, the Statement of Objects and Reasons stated three reasons for taking over its control and management. The main reason was that the institution was facing a financial crisis. Section 3 of the R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital Act, 1958 transferred the institution together with all lands (including buildings), equipments and other properties of the institution to the State Government. The provision also said that the employees of the institutions would be deemed to be State Government employees. The Act also provided for the appointment of a Committee by the State Government for the management of the institution in accordance with the Act and the rules made thereunder. The provision specified the members of the Committee, in which the Director of the Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (IPGMER) would be the ex officio Chairman. Section 10 empowered the State Government to make rules to carry out the purposes of the Act. The next year, in 1959, 107 students were admitted to the MBBS course of the institution, out of which 15 were females.
The Act has been amended thrice till now. It was first amended by the President of India in 1968 by virtue of Section 3 of the West Bengal State Legislature (Delegation of Powers) Act, 1968 as the State was under the President’s Rule. The most important reason for the enactment was that the period of control and management of the institution for ten years by the Government of West Bengal was expiring. The President’s Act also made the Principal-Superintendent of the institution in-charge of the management and administration. However, he was supposed to discharge his duties in accordance with the directions of the State Government. Apart from that, Section 5A of the Act changed the function of R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital Committee to an advisory committee.

In 1941 RGKMCH was Carmichael Medical College

In the 1969 Assembly polls, the United Front Government was elected to power. Very soon, the 1970 Amendment Act was passed by the West Bengal Legislative Assembly which reenacted the provisions of the R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital (Amendment) Act, 1968 with modifications. It replaced the Member of Legislative Council (MLC) in the Advisory Committee with another Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) as the upper house in the State was abolished in 1969.
The Legislative Assembly amended the parent Act in 1976 for the subsequent acquisition of the RGKMCH. The Amendment Act enabled the State Government to acquire the institution by notification in the Official Gazette within the period of twenty years after taking over of the management. The newly introduced Section 3B provided for an amount to be paid by the State Government to the credit of the Board of Trustees of the Medical Education Society of West Bengal for the transfer of the institution and vesting it in the State Government. The said provision also dealt with how the liabilities of the institution would be met.
The State Government, since independence, has taken over the management and acquired several medical colleges with hospitals with or without any legislation. Apart from RGKMCH, Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital (Chittaranjan Hospital) was taken over by the State Government through an Act (in 1967). The medical colleges taken over by the State Government without any legislative enactment are: (i) Bankura Sammilani Medical College and Hospital, and (ii) Burdwan Medical College and Hospital. Sagore Dutta Hospital was acquired through the Sagore Dutt Hospital Act, 1958 where the medical college came up only in 2010.

All the medical colleges with hospitals were affiliated to the respective state universities for that geographical location. RGKMCH and other medical colleges in Kolkata and the Bankura Sammilani Medical College and Hospital were affiliated to Calcutta University. The West Bengal University of Health Sciences (WBUHS) was established by an Act of the Legislative Assembly to bring uniformity in medical education and ensure required autonomy. From 1st January 2003, all such medical colleges and other health sciences colleges, like pharmacy and nursing, were affiliated to this new university. Moreover, degrees in dental, AYUSH, paramedical and allied courses, such as, B.Sc. Radiology and Imaging Technology, Bachelor in Hospital Administration and Bachelor of Physiotherapy, are given by this university. It is pertinent to mention that four homoeopathic medical colleges with hospitals were also taken over by the State Government through legislation between 1983 to 1985, which were subsequently acquired.
Thirty-six sadar and subdivisional hospitals were acquired by the State Government through the Sadar and Subdivisional Hospitals Act, 1955. Nine of them were later upgraded where medical colleges were established in the 21st century.

Not many people know that a law was enacted by the West Bengal Legislative Assembly to regulate admission to medical and dental colleges, including RGKMCH, so as to ensure adequate medical facilities in the districts for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes of citizens. The West Bengal Medical and Dental Colleges (Regulation of Admission) Act, 1973 provided for admission through the Joint Entrance Examination where the seats were distributed among the districts through a formula based on its population, including for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. However, this practice was done away with by repealing the Act in 1977.
All medical colleges in India, including RGKMCH, come under the regulation of the National Medical Commission (NMC). The NMC has been constituted through an Act of Parliament in 2019 replacing the Indian Medical Council. The reason for creating the new regulator was that the provisions of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 were outdated as per the 92nd Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare. Before this, the Dr. Ranjit Roy Chaudhury Committee recommended total overhaul of regulatory framework by forming four autonomous boards. The National Medical Commission Act, 2019 deals with all aspects of medical education, medical institutions and medical profession. The Bengal Medical Act, 1914, which establishes the West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC), only provides for registration of medical practitioners and related matters in the state.
In the end, we must not forget that justice has not been served in the institutional rape and murder of Tilottoma/Abhaya/Kadambini (name changed). The botched-up investigation by the state police and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case has found a perfect scapegoat for the crime in Sanjay Roy. The author, reminiscent of Rabindranath Tagore’s Proshno, stands vindicated by the proposition that a criminal is rarely punished if he/she is powerful. The tainted doctors of the medical syndicate are being quietly reinstated to honourable positions. We should not forget our sister and we must take a pledge to hit the streets once again to seek justice for her.
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The author is a lawyer and Visiting Faculty at Amity University, Kolkata. He can be contacted at sumitganguly.law@gmail.com