Balurghat, June 24: A group of HIV positive persons, who had come to attend a workshop, was turned out of Balurghat District Hospital by the technical staff today.

The hospital superintendent had granted permission to Dakshin Dinajpur Society of People Living with HIV/AIDS to organise the workshop on Relationship Building Advocacy Meeting. The doctors, and staff of the blood bank, outdoor department and technicians were supposed to attend the programme.

However, none of the hospital staff bothered to gather at the out-patients department where arrangements were made for the workshop. Instead, the technical staff literally shooed them away.

“We have been insulted and dishonoured by the hospital staff. I will inform the Bengal health minister, Surjya Kanta Mishra, and the state AIDS Control Society about the incident,” said Abdul Sobhan Mondol, the vice-president of the NGO.

The president of the West Bengal Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, Kishor Kumar Sahu, had come from Calcutta to attend the session.

“It was an important workshop that would have focused on problems HIV positive people face in the hospital. If this is the treatment we get in the hands of the medical fraternity, what would be the society’s attitude towards us,” said Sahu.

The hospital superintendent, Adhip Ghosh, when contacted, said he had to rush to Siliguri for an urgent work.

“I had sent a letter to some staff members, asking them to attend the workshop. I will find out what exactly happened today,” he said.