Mumbai: The BYL Nair Hospital’s tall claims of holding regular meetings to sensitise students about tough ragging laws seem to have fallen flat. The hospital has so far been maintaining it conducted meetings and awareness programmes. Since 2014, it has received more than four complaints of ragging from junior doctors/students over the past five years. The number assumes significance, as in May, this year, Dr Payal Tadvi, a junior doctor, killed herself due to the harassment and casteist abuses by senior colleagues. Her death has again brought to light ragging incidents taking place in medical institutions. The revelation has been made in a response to an application made under the RTI Act by activist Shakeel Ahmed Shaikh. The Free Press Journal has a copy.
As per the official response, the hospital received its first complaint from two students from the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS). They had filed complaints with the hospital’s anti-ragging committee against the second year MBBS students in November 2014. “The committee again received two ragging complaints in January 2015 from a first year microbiology resident doctor. Subsequently, another complaint was received in March 2015 from a second year physiology doctor,” the response from the BYL Nair Hospital states. As per the available data, the hospital received another ragging complaint in October 2018. This complaint, as per the hospital, was made through the toll free number for ragging complaints.
The hospital’s anti-ragging committee has conducted 21 meetings since August 2013 to discuss either the complaints or requests by accused students or parents, apart from formal discussions on plans to sensitise the students. However, the report makes a shocking revelation the panel has actually met students only on one occasion—in August 2017, which is after receiving four complaints. The report states the hospital has acted against the students, accused of harassing or torturing juniors. “We had suspended two students for six months from the hostel of our hospital. Two other students, who ragged juniors were suspended from the hostel permanently,” the official response reads.
The report further states the hospital had in 2014 suspended four MBBS students from college for a month for ragging. Activist Shakeel Ahmed Shaikh rubbished the response, citing ‘confusion’. “There is too much of confusion, as there is no consistency in the responses. It is deliberately done by the management to hide the rampant ragging.” About Dr Tadvi, he said, “Dr Tadvi would have been alive had the college taken action against students in 2014 and 2015.”
