Doctors’ forum in Bengal launches scholarship to honour R.G. Kar victim’s legacy

West Bengal Doctors’ Forum launches Abhaya Scholarship program to honor victim's legacy, supporting medical students in need.

Four months after the gruesome rape and murder of the 31-year-old doctor inside the R.G. Kar hospital in Kolkata, the West Bengal Doctors’ Forum (WBDF) launched the Abhaya Scholarship programme to honour the victim’s legacy.

WBDF members said that in the initial stage, the programme will provide annual scholarships to five meritorious MBBS entrant students, and five students who have passed Class 10. The organisers said they will take suggestions from different stakeholders and improve the scope of this programme. 

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Arjun Dasgupta, a leading ENT specialist from West Bengal who is also part of the forum and was at the scholarship launch, told The Hindu, “Justice for Abhaya is a long-drawn process, but we want to keep her name alive throughout the time. In the process if we can help a few students along the way that would be a positive outcome. Of course, they have to be medical students, but we also want to extend the scholarship to others where there is need.” 

Dr. Dasgupta said that he along with all other members of the forum have spoken to the parents of the victim about the scholarship. “Once the legal case is over and we are not bound by law to not use the victim’s name, we want to rename the scholarship on the victim’s real name and not ‘Abhaya’. This will help keep her memory alive. That is only if her parents allow.” 

Scholarships will be awarded based on socioeconomic criteria, following a selection process overseen by a committee comprising WBDF members and other individuals, including academics. Any recommendations that the committee comes up with, the forum will try to implement over the years if finances permit. 

As one of the organisers, Dr. Dasgupta said that if their finances become sustainable in the longer run, they would offer this scholarship at every medical college in West Bengal to ease the financial burden of going through a medical school. He pointed out that medical equipment can be very expensive even in a government medical facility with subsidies.