Bihar medical college principal threatens suicide over ‘humiliation, torture’

Established in 1983, IGIMS is an autonomous institution that’s funded both by central and state governments.

Dr Guha, a professor in anatomy, wrote about his grievances to Bihar’s additional Health Secretary (Health) Pratyaya Amrit on February 9 and last week, met Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey over “not being able to function properly”.

In his letter to the bureaucrat, Dr Guha claimed he was suffering from “acute depression” because of the developments and that the post of faculty-in-charge was “neither sanctioned nor ad hoc”.

“Unfortunately, the officer to whom the director has assigned this additional charge has started behaving with me unbecomingly in extremely indecent manner as he is considering himself as another principal. The torture and humiliation I am facing every now and then demoralised, disheartened, devaluated and dispirited me in a such a way that I feel absolutely dejected. My dignity has been shattered by asking me to vacate my room in the office of the principal,” he wrote.

He also alleged Dr Awanish Kumar, the head of the medical college’s anatomy department, had replaced his name plate with his own and reassigned his office staff to himself, adding that his depression was “so acute and intense that I sometimes feel to (sic) kick the bucket by committing suicide”.

When contacted, Dr Awanish Kumar, whose appointment to the post of faculty-in-charge was made on February 28 last year, admitted that his post was neither sanctioned nor ad hoc. His appointment letter from the IGIMS director last year, which The Indian Express has seen, says that the move was made to “enhance the efficiency of the medical college and promptly address concerns brought forth by both undergraduate and post-graduate students”.

“It is just delegating additional responsibility by the director to assist the college principal,” he told The Indian Express. “As files would pile up when the principal goes on leave, I’m given the task to dispose of the files. But the principal alone remains the signing authority.”

He also conceded that Dr Guha’s name plate was replaced with his own but that it was “with his permission”.

“Dr Guha, anyway, has been sitting in another office,” he said.

Neither IGIMS director Bindey Kumar nor the ACS (health) responded to phone calls or text messages seeking a response. But an official in the Bihar health department said that the allegations were “being looked into at the level of the health minister and the department’s additional chief secretary”.