Bengal's 'Know Your Doctor' Plan To Identify Fake, Dead, Absent Medics

The West Bengal government will verify the academic credentials of all 1.1 lakh doctors registered with the state medical council following allegations of fake degrees, Health Minister Sharadwat Mukherjee said on Friday.

The exercise will cover doctors registered with the West Bengal Medical Council since 1996, the minister said, adding that the government would ensure that no medical practitioner was unnecessarily inconvenienced.

"The certificates issued by universities will be verified again. There will also be a 'Know Your Doctor' (KYD) exercise," Mukherjee told reporters.

The verification will be carried out in two ways. Doctors can appear in person and submit their documents. Those unable to do so because of age, illness or distance will be contacted through video conferencing.

The state government will engage a private agency to facilitate the process, he said.

The minister also said the names of doctors who have died, moved abroad or stopped practising in India would be removed from the council's register.

Incidentally, the announcement comes amid allegations of irregularities involving medical registration certificates and complaints lodged with the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate against the council's president, vice-president, former registrar, a legislator-member and some officials.

Mukherjee said the state health department had held a meeting with the medical council and decided to undertake the verification exercise.

He also clarified that all existing registrations would remain valid until the government issued fresh guidelines.

"Whatever may be written on the certificates, all registrations will remain valid until we issue fresh guidelines," he said.

The issue of the validity period printed on registration certificates has also come under scrutiny, he said.

The certificates issued by the council mention a validity period of five years.

On the dengue situation, Mukherjee said the disease was under control in the state, though cases continued to be reported from Howrah, Murshidabad, Kolkata and adjoining areas.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)