Suvendu Adhikari has said action will be taken against West Bengal health secretary Narayan Swarup Nigam if an inquiry confirms that he ordered the demolition or renovation of rooms near the seminar hall at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital after the death of a woman doctor. Adhikari made the statement at an All-India conference of a doctors’ organisation linked to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad at RG Kar on Friday.
The allegation concerns the demolition of a room and an adjoining toilet beside the hospital’s seminar hall after the incident. The report attributes the allegation to Ratna Debnath, identified as the victim’s mother and an MLA from Panihati. She questioned who authorised the work and why the official allegedly linked to the decision continues to hold office.
According to the report, Debnath said that the room and adjoining toilet were demolished and renovated shortly after her daughter was killed. She argued that the continued presence of officials facing such allegations would undermine public confidence in the prospect of justice and in the functioning of the health department.
Responding to the allegation, Adhikari described it as serious and said he was examining whether the then health secretary had issued any instruction to demolish the area or destroy evidence. He said that if the allegation was found to be true and Narayan Swarup Nigam remained in the post of health secretary, the official would be removed immediately.
The report also records Adhikari as saying that the Public Works Department was responsible for renovation work at RG Kar. The inquiry will therefore examine whether the health department issued any instruction to the Public Works Department, and whether such an instruction was connected to the demolition or renovation of the area beside the seminar hall.
The statement places administrative responsibility at the centre of the RG Kar case. The supplied report does not establish that Nigam issued an instruction, that evidence was destroyed, or that any official has been found responsible. Those matters remain subject to the examination promised by Adhikari.
Adhikari said the state government would take action against any person found responsible and would take all necessary steps in the case. The next formal development will depend on the inquiry into the alleged instruction, the role of the health and Public Works departments, and any decision concerning the continuation of the official in his post.
