Kolkata, Sep 26 (IANS): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Thursday evening, announced the new structure of the patients’ welfare committees in all medical colleges & hospitals in the state which are created after dismantling of the previous committee amid the rape and murder of a junior doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata last month.

She made this announcement at the state secretariat Nabanna after a meeting to review the functioning of all medical colleges and hospitals in the state which was attended by senior administrative and police officials as well as the principals and MSVPs.

“The new patients’ welfare committee in each medical college will be headed by the principal there. The other members of the committee will be the MSVP, one senior doctor, one junior doctor, one from the nursing section and one public representative,” she said.

The Chief Minister also said that biometric attendance systems will be introduced at medical colleges and hospitals.

“The hospital medical college and authorities have been advised to maintain detailed records of the people coming there for doing contractual works,” the Chief Minister said.

The decision to reconstruct the patients’ welfare committee is very crucial since in the past there had been several complaints of such committees being influenced by local political leaders from the ruling dispensation.

The Chief Minister announced the reconstruction of the patient’s welfare committees on September 14 after arriving at the protest venue of the junior doctors in front of Swastha Bhavan, the state health department headquarters at Salt Lake in the northern outskirts of Kolkata.

Meanwhile, West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Forum, the umbrella body of junior doctors in the state spearheading the movement against the ghastly rape and murder will announce its next course of movement in the matter at a mass convention to be organised on Friday.