On the afternoon of Sunday, March 22nd, a few of my friends told me that something horrible had happened. The short of it was that a Third year undergraduate student of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur had passed away primarily due to the negligence and fault of the on-site hospital.
Over the period of a few minutes, virtually everyone in the campus got to know about the incident, and decided to rally in front of the residence of the Director. For those of you not aware, the director is perhaps the most powerful person in the administration, and people go to him in times of great distress, when no other option seems available.
The information I am going to present here is compiled from several sources, mostly my various friends and acquaintances, pieced together for the purpose of anyone who wishes to know it. In no way am I claiming the information is presented is accurate, and these aren’t my opinions, they’re facts. By accepting it, you are releasing me from any liabilities.
Rohit Kumar was a third year student in the Electrical Engineering Department, and was part of several of the important and popular organizations on campus. On sunday morning, he felt ill, dizzy and collapsed. Worried, his friends took him to the B.C. Roy Hospital, upon reaching which, he was visibly in serious condition. He was asked to wait for three hours or for a doctor to come as the day was an “off day” or something, and barely any aid was administered. His friends wanted to take him to a government hospital, in BCR’s ambulance, but the staff insisted he stay.
Upon the doctor’s arrival and inspection, he claimed that he does not have the expertise/facilities to help Rohit, and that they should take him to a hospital in Calcutta or Midnapore (two nearby towns), which would take four hours for thre commute itself. The hospital offered that they take the ambulance, nearly four hours after he’d come in.
His friends decided to take him to the hospital, but on the way, he was no longer with them.
Word gets back to people in his hostel, who are torn between fury and sorrow. Within a few minutes, word spreads like wildfire, and a few people turn up in front of the director’s residence, as they do not know what else to do.
The story goes that the director appears nonplussed about the whole situation(the stories I’ve heard how he actually responded, I hope were an exaggaration). While talks continue, many people turn up, and a mob of students is formed. Angry and demanding change, some property is defaced and slogans are shouted, while a select few students and the director are negotiating talks inside.
Well over four to five hundred people start demanding resignation of the director, who initially refuses, but ultimately bows to the public pressure, seeing no choice. While I and many others felt that this wasn’t the right way to go ahead, the opinions of the mob trumps everyone else’s.
After four tense hours, and a signed letter, sealed and faxed to the board of directors, the mob eases, almost like it’s forgotten the events of the day so far. We are yet to know about what is happening to Rohit, or exactly what took place to lead to such an unfortunate turn of events.
I may or may not post my two cents on this issue eventually, though somewhere in the dark corner of my thoughts, I knew something like this was a long time coming, and only something that’s shocking can make people realize the level of the situation. While I’ve heard some pretty scary stories about experiences of people at B.C.Roy hospital, I’ll keep them to myself, as they don’t need any more defacing in particular. The only thing that bothers me is a complete lack of antivenom, despite the district it’s in being one of the most dense cobra-population areas in the world, and that people encounter venomous snakes on a regular basis.
Again, I state that these are details gathered from various sources, and the chinese whispers always prevail. I’ve tried to be as neutral and impassionate as possible while writing this, and publish it only with the hopes that it is useful and informative. Please do not contact me for any information. You can find more information soon on The Scholars Avenue(our institute newspaper), and Ramkumar’s Article(This one’s with pictures and additional details).
After reading this post first i must congratulate you for maintaining a neutral tone & putting that disclaimer. Don’t know much about the protocol followed at B C Roy hosp. But as far as general rules go the culprit in above case appears to be the Medical officer on duty for the delay. Whoever be the culprit, should be punished. But more importantly what this incident shows is the appalling condition of health care in India. It is high-time we demand more from our leaders in this regard.
Please update the link to The Scholars’ Avenue to http://209.97.214.175/~scholars/wordpress/?p=1003
// The only thing that bothers me is a complete lack of antivenom, despite the district it’s in being one of the most dense cobra-population areas in the world, and that people encounter venomous snakes on a regular basis.//
Horrible !!