All 29 civic volunteers at R.G. Kar medical college relieved of their duties

All the 29 civic volunteers at state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata have been relieved of their duties by Kolkata Police, police sources said on Thursday, 17 October.

They have been replaced by 29 constables, including women personnel, the sources said.

The 29 civic volunteers who have been relieved of their duties at R.G. Kar have not been assigned any other alternative duty for the time being.

Since the ghastly rape and murder of a lady junior doctor at R.G. Kar took place in August 2024, the role of the civic volunteers came into question. In fact, the person, who was held as the “sole prime accused” by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its first charge sheet filed at a special court in Kolkata earlier this month, was also a civic volunteer.

The Supreme Court too made negative observations about assigning security-related duties to civic volunteers at medical colleges and hospitals and schools in the state.

The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF), the umbrella body of junior doctors in the state spearheading the movement in support of their demands on the rape and murder issue, describe the move to relieve civic volunteers at R.G. Kar as a late initiative by the city police authorities.

"We had been demanding the removal of civic volunteers from security duties at medical colleges for quite some time. But at that point in time, our demands were ignored. Now they are doing it out of the pressure from the apex court," said a WBJDF representative.

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, this week also directed the West Bengal government to submit to the court the details of the recruitment process of civic volunteers in the state. The apex court also directed the state government to file an affidavit on this count within three weeks.