KOLKATA: A government doctor in West Bengal’s Barasat in North 24 Parganas district was suspended by the health department after he put up a Facebook post criticising the government’s response in tackling dengue outbreak in the state.
Arunachal Dutta Choudhury, an MD by qualification posted at Barasat District Hospital, claimed that over 500 dengue patients were admitted in the hospital on October 6 and described how he had to step on patients lying on the floor to reach other patients.
“When the number of patients I was treating reached 100, I knew we were working in warlike conditions, but after it approached 500, I realised it was impossible to wage war,” he wrote on Facebook.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that the state had recorded only 13 deaths in government hospitals and the 27 deaths in private hospitals is yet to be verified. The state administration had also blamed the Bengali tourists for visiting other states during the autumn break and bringing the dengue virus here.
Meanwhile, the suspension has bolstered the opposition that is already in an attack mode over the alleged slack government response in tackling the crisis.
“Withdraw suspension of Dr A Dutta Chowdhury. Protest against CM’s war against doctors fighting dengue which she failed to do,” West Bengal CPM chief Surjya Kanta Mishra tweeted.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stated that the government gagging Choudhury exhibits the anarchy prevailing in the state.