Why the spirit of RG Kar protests must be kept alive

Will tomorrow be what we would like it to be after the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH) rape-murder? After all, it took this gruesome crime to remind us of our duty to protest against what we should not see happening in society.

- Partha P Majumder

The health care system in West Bengal (and possibly in many other states) is steeped in corruption. Immoral and unethical practices of a few bring in money from various sources, a portion of which is shared with members of the party in power. This partaking of dirty money paves the path to tolerance of corrupt practices. And then it snowballs, as more and more corrupt practices and practitioners enter the system. Extortion from medical students to avoid being marked as "failed" in examinations (actual performance notwithstanding), "cut money" from purchases, commission to allow a supply of fake drugs to hospitals, sexual harassment and exploitation of women, bribes for allocating hospital beds to patients, and many such heinous acts are overlooked for a share of the loot. When questioned, the powers that be feign ignorance.

The need now is to stand up and protest against all this if another RGKMCH-type incident is to be avoided. With this crime, we realised that corruption is not confined to only a single medical institution, but infects the entire health system now.