Mumbai's BYL Nair Charitable Hospital got just 1 ragging plaint in 1.5 yrs: RTI

The anti-ragging committee at BYL Nair Charitable Hospital and Topiwala National Medical College, which is in the spotlight over the suicide of Dr Payal Tadvi, received just one complaint in the past one-and-a-half years.

The hospital shared the number in response to an application filed under the Right to Information Act. Authorities said no complaint related to the ragging of Tadvi was registered with the panel. The reply covers the period from January 2018 to June 2019.

Tadvi, who hailed from a tribal community, hanged herself in her hostel room on May 22. Her family says she had alleged casteist slurs and harassment at the hands of three seniors – Hema Ahuja, Bhakti Meher and Ankita Khandelwal who are in jail since May 29. A special court on Monday rejected their bail pleas.

Nair officials said the committee met seven times between February 2018 and May 2019, including two this year, that too after the female resident doctor's suicide.

The panel received the lone complaint on the anti-ragging helpline on October 12, 2018.

"The ragging issue which was highlighted by the students was solved," said Public Information Officer Dr Gautam Kale in the RTI response.

Hospital dean Dr RN Bharmal said, "A student had filed a complaint against another student for ragging him in the college. The issue was resolved by the anti-ragging committee. Later, the victim took back his complaint against the accused."

Mahesh Bhartiya, president of Samyak Vidhyarthi Andolan, the students' wing of Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, offered a different narrative to the only ragging complaint received by the Nair panel. Bhartiya said medical colleges must first set up SC/ST and sexual harassment committees to help students file complaints.

"Many a time students are afraid of coming forward because of which there are few complaints. Discrimination against the students belonging to lower castes and communities is prevalent across the country for a long time. Over the years we have received multiple complaints from students about the kind of harassment they face," said Bhartiya.

Following the Tadvi incident, the hospital had planned to hold counselling sessions of resident doctors at various clinical departments every 15 days and track their medical records with regard to mental health.

While it has been a month since Tadvi's suicide, only one department is currently holding counselling sessions. Dr Bharmal, said, "We are working with the resident doctors. After the incident, right now only the resident doctors from the gynaecology department are undergoing counselling and various meet-ups to open up about different mental health issues."