Facebook post on dengue earns Bengal doctor suspension from government hospital

Dengue kills. It also earns suspension for doctors, as Arunachal Dutta Choudhury, an employee of the West Bengal Health Service found to his horror.
On November 10, the doctor who is about 62 and working at the district hospital in North 24 Parganas was handed a suspension order for a purported Facebook post that described the adverse condition in his hospital that is facing a wave of patients over the past few weeks.
Read: Going viral: How dengue has widened its grip across India
Written in Bengali, Dutta Choudhury’s post in October detailed the helpless condition of the doctors. “When the number of patients I was treating was about 100, I knew we were working in warlike conditions, but after it approached 500, I realised it was impossible to wage war,” he wrote.

He also wrote that it was impossible to treat the patients not only due to their sheer number, but also on account of the conditions in the hospital. He alleged it is impossible to locate any patient as he might be lost in a crowd of hundreds who occupy every inch of the hospital building -- ward, balcony, passages and alleys. “Even if one can be located, it is difficult to reach him as one has to step on other patients lying just about everywhere,” Dutta Choudhury wrote.
Read: Can you get dengue twice? Read here to find out
Most government doctors say in private that Dutta Choudhury’s description was hardly an exaggeration.
“It is unfortunate that I was suspended. I could have retired at 60, but the state government extended the age of retirement of doctors and I had to work,” Dutta Choudhury told the media.
MoS health, Chandrima Bhattacharya did not take calls. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee holds the health portfolio. Sources told HT he was suspended for not writing unverified information.
In April 2012, Jadavpur University chemistry professor Ambikesh Mahapatra and a neighbour of his were arrested by the police for emailing a spoof. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee later alleged that the spoof, in which she and former railway minister (and Trinamool Congress heavyweight) Mukul were seen, conveyed a message that they would be killed.
Read: Dengue spikes in Punjab with 652 cases in two days
On October 30, Mamata Banerjee claimed only 13 persons have died of dengue in Bengal. Only a week before that chief secretary Malay De told the media that dengue killed 34 in the state.
Dengue has become a politically sensitive topic in Bengal with all the opposition parties -- CPI(M), Congress and BJP -- hitting the streets accusing the Mamata Banerjee government of inefficiency and inaction to tackle the menace. Bengal Congress has filed a few public interest litigations in Calcutta high court too.
The opposition has also accused the government of gaging the doctors by asking them not to write dengue as the cause of death.
“It is an instance of the anarchy prevailing in Bengal. If one speaks the truth, this is what he will face,” remarked BJP state general secretary Sayantan Basu. He also recalled how, in end My 2011, the health department suspended neurosurgeon Dr S P Gorai of Bangur Institute of Neurology, who complained of the crowds in the institute accompanying chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who visited the hospital just about a week after assuming power.
“Withdraw the suspension of Dr A Dutta Chowdhury. Protest against CM’s war against doctors fighting dengue which she failed to do,” wrote CPI(M) state secretary and politburo member Surya Kanta Mishra.
“Rather than suspending Dr A Dutta Choudhury, any reasonable, rational authority honestly committed to people and delivery of standard level of health care as a right of each and every citizen should have taken the post in right earnest and should have taken corrective measures,” said the West Bengal Doctors forum in a statement.
In a latter to the chief medical officer of the district of North 24 Parganas, the Association of Health Service Doctors wrote, “The punishment is undemocratic and a denial of the right of expression.”
-
Court refuses bail to Sachin Vaze, calls him highly influential
A special court last week rejected dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Vaze's bail in the money laundering case against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh. Special judge Rahul Rokade referred to Vaze's statement to the Enforcement Directorate probing the money laundering allegations, saying Deshmukh allegedly gave him a list of 1,750 bars and restaurants and asked him to collect ₹3,00,000 from each for allowing them to operate beyond restricted time and occupancy in the pandemic situation.
-
Beggar buys ₹90,000 bike after wife complains of backache, spends life savings
In a heartwarming incident, Santosh Kumar Sahu - a beggar from Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh - bought a moped for his wife Munni. The bike is worth ₹90,000. Santosh told news agency ANI he got the bike because his wife complained about a backache from sitting on the tricycle he owned earlier. "Now we can now go to Seoni, Itarsi, Bhopal, Indore," he told news agency ANI.
-
Max temp in Delhi to remain below normal after fresh thunderstorm
The maximum temperature in Delhi is expected to remain below normal after a fresh thunderstorm. The India Meteorological Department data showed Delhi received 14.6 mm of rainfall till 8:30 am. The fresh thunderstorm was also a result of an active western disturbance, resulting in wind speeds touching around 50 to 60 km per hour around midnight. The thunderstorm began around 11 pm across Delhi and National Capital Region and continued till around 3 am.
-
PM Modi to lead International Yoga Day celebrations in Mysuru on June 21
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead the main event of the eighth International Day of Yoga celebrations on June 21 in Mysuru, Karnataka. As this Yoga day is falling in the "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav" year, the Ayush Ministry has also planned to observe IDY at 75 iconic locations across the country and is focusing on branding India on a global scale.
-
VHP leader hints at 'Ram Mandir-like campaign' in Mangaluru
After a temple-like structure was found underneath an old mosque on the outskirts of Karnataka's Mangaluru, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader has hinted at the possibility of a "Ram Mandir-like campaign" and vowed to continue the legal fight for the premises. A Hindu temple-like architectural structure was discovered in April during the renovation work at Juma Masjid in Malali, on the outskirts of Mangaluru. All Hindus here strongly believe there was definitely a Hindu god.