Postgraduate students and Interns of the National Institute of Homoeopathy are on strike and agitation since few days.
SIMILIMA team publishing the arguments and facts from both side – Let us have a creative discussion to solve the problems at the one and only national institute of Homoeopathy
“The interns & PGs of NIH at the same time running a parallel OPD, so that patient care facilities is not going to be hampered” – Agitators
From the students side
- Though NIH is a central govt. run institute & a huge amount of grant is being sanctioned regularly for its smooth functioning but it is unfortunate that the administration cannot provide the minimum facilities for the proper care of the patient.
- Astonished to know that the minimum health care facilities , like- (a) instrument for measuring blood pressure in most of the OPDs are not functioning properly (b) non-availability of weighing machines in most of the OPDs (c) no proper examination room.
- Most of the pathological tests are not done here, the quality of radiological investigations are very poor & USG facility which was once upon a time available , is not functioning for more than one year
- Without informing hospital section our leaves were reduced drastically from 23 to 15 for PGTs & from 14 to 12 for interns in a year solely by director.
- NIH is being in equivalent standard to the AIIMS but there is a huge disparity faced by the interns & PGTs regarding the stipend. We are getting less than half the stipend in comparison to AIIMS. We had already notified this issue repeatedly to the Director of NIH and Joint secretary of Dept. of AYUSH New Delhi but till date we had not received any positive response from these authorities.
- NIH being the only central institute in Homoeopathy had no house staff till date. Without one year house staff as per gazette we are not eligible for applying in MO & RMO posts.
- We need permanent enclosure of BHMS degree of WBUHS in second schedule of Homoeopathic Central Council Act 1973 as early as possible.
- We are living in a very horrifying and insecure state of condition in the PG Hostel campus as our director denied us to provide minimum facilities of our living.
- We have to work about 60 hours in a week even without getting minimum interval after 12 hours of night duty though in parallel institute doctors usually have day off after night duty.
- All the original documents regarding our academic career have been submitted to the authority of NIH at the time of our admission, against which no receipt has been given to us till date. We had repeatedly asked for the receipt from the Director & PG co-ordinator, but they not only repeatedly turned down our request but also said that if anything unfortunate happens to our documents they will not be held responsible.
- Even a small matter of issuing of I-CARD is being neglected for as long as 6 months after admission.
- Our Female Doctor Colleagues are feeling insecure in our own campus because they have to go more than 2 kms distance to reach our hospital without any official transport facilities even at night without any i-card of the institute.
From the other side
Many of the above matters are not come in the preview of Director but should be discussed and finalized by Ministry
Interns & PGs are using harsh insulting languages towards director
Racism – some students can’t tolerate a non- Bengali director
Even though Director entrusted HODs to discuss and solve the issues – students are not interested to solve the issues
Many PGs want stipend only…not interested to become a good postgraduate.
What next ?
We are requesting the authority, PGs and Interns to sit together and solve the issues for a better future of Homoeopathy.
One thing we realized during our visit to NIH – academic standards are deteriorating comparing to other Homoeopathic institute In India (Even though many great Homeopathy teachers are there) – because of the terrible shortage of teaching staff at NIH.
One Example – In CR department – there is only one permanent teacher to manage UG students and three batches of PG students!!
The largest OPD & IPD is the main attraction at NIH – Patients are coming from long distance even from neighboring states. So we must provide everything to the patients – a better treatment with all standard facilities including latest investigation .
The story behind chaos at NIH
(1) Every student comes here with big dreams. The student in NIH pays here for better training, for becoming best homoeopathic physician of their generation. For getting admitted in NIH, student has to fight rigorously. After qualifying the entrance he has to pay highest fee among all national institutes of medical stream. He has also pay several kind of fees for which only imaginary services are existing, for example one PGT has to pay Rs.2500 for internet facility but this facility is practically non-existing.
(2) Coming to training part there is severe lack of teachers. For example- the place which was got vacant after Prof. Dr. S C Dey(medicine), Dr. S K Bhattcharya(gyn & obs), Dr.B. Saha (gyn & obs), Dr. R Biswas(physiotherapy), etc.have retired long time ago.
(3) A handful number of very famous doctors have retired or on the verge of retirement within 1 to 2 years. We have requested Dr. S K Nanda to give them extension as the coming generation can utilise their vast experiences and knowledge. But he denied to do that only because his personal relationship with those senior professors are not good. For example: at present paediatrics department has no faculties as Dr. S. Adhikary (the only professor of paediatrics department) has retired on november 2012. We repeatedly requested Dr. Nanda to give him extension but he opted for closure of Paediatrics department rather than retaining Dr. Adhikary. Today Paediatrics department is running just because of Judgement passed by Hon’ble kolkata high court.
(4) The pathological investigations are done here only from 9 AM to 11 AM & that to not on Saturday. The radiology department too has the similar story. The USG is completely shut down since long. There is no orthopedic surgeon even as guest faculty. There is faulty BP instrument in almost all the OPDs & no weighing machine etc. No examination room/screen in most of the OPDs.
(5) Few OPDs are on 3rd floor but the lift is out of order since long time & when we pleaded for it he replied that he will not take care of this because lifts were not out of order during his directorship So he will not going to repair it.
(6)The present administration is probably attempting its level best to reduce no of sits in PG course.
(7)The Students have to wander on road after completion of BHMS course for long for the registration to state homoeopathic council. If any student asks to director Dr. SK Nanda about it he almost always humiliates those students.On asking any question to the Director & current academic in charge about delayed registration, they reply arrogantly taht they did not invite any one to join the course.
(8)The Director is only interested in introduction of CCTV Cameras, & threatening the students.
If he has even tried to short out these problems seriously most of them can easily be solved only from his level. He was aware of all the shortcomings. But he was never interested in it. All these kind of conditions created a fertile soil against the current director.
On the May 6, 2013 again his arrogant attitude poured oil on the flame. The situation which was easily diffusible with a tanker of water, his rude behavior & application of police force set fire in the student emotions. Now director Dr. S.K. Nanda is underground, & because of him patients and students are suffering more and more. He can’t deny the responsibility for which he is awarded the handsome amount from sweat of the poor public of India.
It is now expected that at least after current incidence Director Dr. SK Nanda will learn a positive lesion and will work hard for the betterment of homoeopathy humanity & students.
Few issues are poked which is not related to NIH. They are general issues like Stipends, inclusion of BHMS Course of WBUHS under second schedule of CCH etc. In these cases, the authority must act in a co-ordinated way to solve the issues if they really want to at all.
It is worth mentioning that students will have no objection with the non-bengali director because since long, NIH is being directed by Non-bengali director; at the same time, virulent movement was conducted led by the students’ union when a bengalee director Dr. Ghosh Mondal was in vogue (in 2011).
Also few issues are kept aside by the students, like, while entering the PG course, NIH authority demands for a bond, mentioning that, if anybody leaves NIH in the midst of PG Course, he/she need to pay Rs. 1lakh alongwith THE STIPEND DRAWN BY HIM/HER to the authority, which is nothing but an innovative way to restrict the students from leaving NIH. One must remember that students are earning money in exchange of a tremendous hardwork at the OPD and IPD as well. It is illegal to snatch money from the students in such way and it is totally in contrary to the labour laws on Indian Constitution.
Is is worthless to hear that Director doesn’t know anything. Had he knows nothing, how the following can happen:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/178439255543015/510537555666515/?comment_id=510573278996276¬if_t=like
It means the director is well aware of how to do duplicity and how to act unlawfully. I can affirm that Director knows everything. It must be stopped, else, NIH will stop functioning. Hats off to the PGTs and Interns who are continuing strike and also providing parallel services. The authority should stop blaming the students and must make a self-criticism. It may happen that the students who are on the move may face some odds in the exam, but still they must move. Don’t be afraid but go ahead. We are supporting you.
we have already put up the issue of refunding the stipend in our demands.
and today another incident happened.The director brought the local councillor and partymen and tried to threaten the students.but the councillor after hearing a lot from the students blamed the director and went off.
The story behind chaos at NIH
Every student comes here with big dreams. The student in NIH pays here for better training, for becoming best homoeopathic physician of their generation. For getting admitted in NIH, student has to fight rigorously. After qualifying the entrance he has to pay highest fee among all national institutes of medical stream. He has also pay several kind of fees for which only imaginary services are existing, for example one PGT has to pay Rs.2500 for internet facility but this facility is practically non-existing.
Coming to training part there is severe lack of teachers. For example- the place which was got vacant after Prof. Dr. S C Dey(medicine), Dr. S K Bhattcharya(gyn & obs), Dr.B. Saha (gyn & obs), Dr. R Biswas(physiotherapy), etc. . Academic classes run since 9 AM to 5PM & Library remain open from 10 AM to 5 PM . The pathological investigations are done here only from 9 AM to 11 AM & that to not on Saturday. The radiology department too has the similar story. The USG is completely shut down since long. There is no orthopedic surgeon even as guest faculty. There is faulty BP instrument in almost all the OPDs & no weight machine etc. No examination room/screen in most of the OPDs. There are few OPDs are on 3rd floor but the lift is out of order since long time. This administration fails to provide ID card even in 6 months. Documents are deposited needlessly without any giving any receipt. The present administration is probably attempting its level best to reduce no of sits in PG course. In these conditions, how one can say that the situation in NIH is sound. The stipend too is tee meager with respect to central Government institutes. If any student asks to director Dr. SK Nanda about it he almost always humiliates those students. The Students have to wander on road after completion of BHMS course for long for the registration to state homoeopathic council. On asking any question to the Director & current academic in charge about delayed registration, they reply arrogantly they did not invite any one to join the course. The Director is only interested in introduction of CCTV Cameras, & threatening the students. If he has even tried to short out these problems seriously most of them can easily be solved only from his level. He was aware of all the shortcomings. But he was never interested in it. All these kind of conditions created a fertile soil against the current director.
On the May 6, 2013 again his arrogant attitude poured oil on the flame. The situation which was easily diffusible with a tanker of water, his rude behavior & application of police force set fire in the student emotions. Now director Dr. S.K. Nanda is underground, & because of him patients and students are suffering more and more. He can’t deny the responsibility for which he is awarded the handsome amount from sweat of the poor public of India.
It is now expected that at least after current incidence Director Dr. S.K. Nanda will learn a positive lesion and will work hard for the betterment of homoeopathy humanity & students.