Kolkata, Aug 20 (PTI) Deploring the alleged “insensitive attitude” of the West Bengal government to the alleged rape and murder of a doctor in a Kolkata hospital, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday said a “fear psychosis” has gripped the children of the country following the ghastly crime.
Pradhan, who was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme of IIT Kharagpur in the city, said the governments at the state and Centre must abide by the directives of the Supreme Court on the issue.
“But the world has been witness to the insensitivity of the state government, the ‘don’t care’ attitude, and the unsuccessful effort to hide evidence,” he said.
Asserting the Supreme Court has raised basic questions advocating strong steps about this incident in Bengal, Pradhan said it is shocking that a democratically elected government which came to power on ‘Maa Mati Manush’ (Mother, land and people) slogan has become “deaf to the cries” of justice of its people.
Referring to the arrested civic volunteer Sanjay Roy, Pradhan said, “He was recruited as a civic volunteer of Kolkata Police and continued in his service despite reports about his past misdeeds.” On the waves of protests taken out across the state in the past one week or so, he told reporters that the civil society flagged pertinent issues to which the state machinery has no answer.
He said the incident confirmed that no well-laid procedure and protocol necessary for deploying women in a state-run hospital were followed.
Union Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar told PTI that the recent suggestion by the administration to both state and private establishments not to deploy women in night duties shows gender bias against women.
“Such recommendations are discriminatory which will not address the main issue of women’s safety and are regressive with no gender sensitivity. You (state) cannot ensure a safe, secure environment for women and instead ask them to stay indoors to prevent crime,” said Majumdar, also the state BJP chief.
He said the BJP will hit the streets against the R G Kar Hospital incident and the shoddy handling of the issue by the state for the next six days and he will also lead from the front.
To a question if he will visit the parents of the deceased, he said, “They are in the process of recovering from the grave tragedy. I will go at the appropriate time.” The postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital here on August 9.
Senior TMC minister Chandrima Bhattacharya refused to pass any remark on the accusations made by the central education minister.
“We won’t comment on what Pradhan has said. It is a sub-judice issue,” she told PTI.
Pradhan and Majumdar also held a meeting with directors and vice chancellor of eight central higher education institutions including IIM, IISER and Visva Bharati to discuss their road map, steps to pursue the goals of academic excellence and other issues.
The meeting was held at IIT Kharagpur Research Park here.
IIT Kharagpur Director V K Tewari said the minister went around the facilities, interacted with officials and expressed satisfaction with the infrastructure. PTI SUS RG NN
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.