Cuttack: The controversy over the alleged mental and physical harassment of postgraduate doctors of urology department at SCB Medical College and Hospital by departmental head Duteswar Hota has taken a new turn with the inquiry report coming to public.

The postgraduate doctors had alleged that Hota was constantly harassing them by giving them long duty hours in the hospital and even at his private nursing home.

The committee has opined that the allegations regarding the working hours and duty pattern of the postgraduate doctors of urology department were "unfounded as they are allowed adequate time during the 8am-10pm work schedule pattern".

"This is necessary in the greater interest of the functioning of the department," the committee said in its report, while indicating that the duty chart of the urology department showed an 8am-8pm duty pattern for all the postgraduate doctors.

However, the inquiry committee further observed in its report: "It is concluded beyond reasonable doubt that head of the urology department has utilised M.Ch. students (postgraduate doctors) of his department for his OPD and OT work in a private set-up."

"However, the authenticity of the audio-visual evidence supplied by the postgraduate doctors has to be checked by a competent technical authority as the conclusion drawn by the committee is based on these evidence," the report clarified.

The report further clarified: "It was not possible for the committee to visit to conduct any enquiry on the premises of the nursing home mentioned in the statement of allegations by the complainants, this being outside the jurisdiction of the inquiry committee." Based on the allegations, the 13 postgraduate doctors of urology department around 450 medicos have been boycotting hospital duty since Monday demanding "impartial inquiry" under the banner of the Postgraduate Doctors' Association.

After receiving the inquiry committee's report, principal of the medical college Sidhartha Das had sent it to the state government on Thursday for appropriate action and provided a copy of the report to the doctors' association.

Postgraduate Doctors' Association president Rajesh Sahu on Friday said that they would continue with the strike as a meeting with the health minister failed to yield any "positive result".

"As the report has confirmed our allegation, we expect action in form of transfer of Hota from the post of the head of the department. But, health minister Pratap Jena did not give any assurance on it," Sahu.

Ex-MLA dies

Former MLA Nityananda Samantaray died in his house in Cuttack on Friday. He was 86. He was elected from the Tirtol Assembly seat on a Congress ticket in 1985. He is father of Barabati-Cuttack MLA Debashis Samantaray.