The West Bengal Health Department has begun a Sebashray investigation into the involvement of around 120 doctors in the camps after multiple complaints, with officials examining whether government doctors had permission to attend and whether medical students and district health officers were taken to the programme through authorised channels.
The doctors under scrutiny include between 80 and 85 government doctors, while the remaining doctors work at different private hospitals, according to Anandabazar. The investigation will examine what roles the doctors played at the Sebashray camps and why they attended them.
Health Bhavan is expected to call five or six doctors each day to record their statements. A separate file will be prepared on the basis of each doctor’s account, the report said. The process is intended to establish the individual involvement of doctors connected with the camps.
For government doctors, investigators have prepared a questionnaire. They will be asked why they left their responsibilities at government hospitals to attend Sebashray camps and whether they had permission from the Health Department. The investigation will also establish whether any such permission was granted in writing or orally.
The department is examining the participation of medical students as well. Investigators will seek to determine who authorised their presence at the camps and under what arrangements they were taken there. The report did not provide details about the number of students involved or identify the institutions from which they came.
Investigators have also received information that health officials from several districts were present at the camps as “mentors”. Their attendance and the authority under which they participated will form part of the inquiry. The report did not specify the districts or name the officials concerned.
The investigation therefore covers both direct and indirect links with the camps. It is not limited to the conduct of doctors who provided services there, but also includes questions about official permissions, the use of government personnel and the involvement of students and district-level health officials.
Health Minister Sharadwat Mukhopadhyay said that the department was examining who was connected with the camps either directly or indirectly. “No one is above the law,” he said, according to the report.
The Health Department’s next steps are to record the statements of the doctors, create individual files and establish the permissions and responsibilities associated with their participation. The investigation’s findings and any action arising from it were not specified in the report.