Alipurduar, 16th January: Controversy erupted after the name of TMC Alipurduar MLA Sourav Chakraborty was found first in the list of health care workers who were to receive the vaccine at Alipurduar district hospital, today. Chakraborty had been enlisted as a medical officer.
Soon as the news surfaced, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) started raising questions, following which the TMC MLA dropped out. The TMC called the incident to be ‘an error’ which was rectified.
Addressing the issue, Chakraborty assumed the mistake as a communication gap on the part of the district health department as he holds a PhD degree and also is the chairman of Rogi Kalyan Samiti (Patient Welfare Committee) in the district hospital. He added that as soon as he came to know about the issue, he contacted the district CMOH and refused to take the vaccine.
Meanwhile, BJP general secretary Suman Kanjilal of Alipurduar district accused the MLA of trying to get the COVID-19 vaccine breaching the Centre’s guidelines. He pointed out that the first phase of the drive strictly prioritises nurses, doctors and others on the front line.
On the other hand, Superintendent of Alipurduar District Hospital, Dr Chinmay Barman said that the name of MLA Sourav Chakraborty might have been included in the vaccination list as he is chairman of Alipurduar District Hospital’s Rogi Kalyan Samiti. He maintained that the names were placed in the list according to the instructions given by the Health Department.