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Suicide bid by PGI senior resident: Faculty body demands re-inquiry
In an email addressed to the PGI director, the body expressed concerns that the committee lacked representation from the faculty association itself, while even the president of the association of resident doctors is one of its members
The faculty association of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) has called for a reinvestigation into the suicide attempt by a senior resident doctor, after a panel constituted to probe the matter submitted its findings to the institute director.
In an email addressed to the PGI director, the body expressed concerns that the committee lacked representation from the faculty association itself, while even the president of the association of resident doctors is one of its members.
Consequently, the faculty association’s executive committee (FA-EC) has formally requested a re-inquiry that includes representatives from both the faculty and resident doctors’ associations.
The panel probing the suicide attempt by a senior resident at PGIMER submitted its report to the hospital director on Saturday. However, specifics of the report have not been disclosed yet, as the hospital administration plans to hold a press conference on July 25.
Accusing an associate professor of subjecting him to humiliation and creating an unbearable environment since he joined the institute, the senior resident had tried to end his life on Tuesday, but his colleagues intervened in time to save him.
9 PhD students lodged plaint in past
Harassment allegations are not new to the premier institute as multiple complaints have been previously filed with the PGI authorities. Despite this, the situation has not improved. Following the recent suicide attempt case, an old complaint has emerged, wherein PhD students accused a senior doctors of subjecting them to mental and verbal harassment.
On April 10, 2023, a complaint was lodged with the PGI director. In this complaint, students raised serious concerns about the treatment with female PhD students. They reported that all female PhD students had been prohibited even from using the departmental washroom, alleging that they were publicly shamed and blamed on multiple occasions, both in public and within the offices.
Talking to HT on this, Prof Vivek Lal, director PGI, said, “The matter was referred to professor concerned and solved amicably.”
