Siliguri, Nov. 6 -- Tension erupted at Siliguri District Hospital on Thursday after a pharmacist was accused of giving the wrong medicine to a patient's family and allegedly misbehaving with them for speaking in Bengali.
According to reports, a family from Dalkhola had brought their child to the hospital for treatment. After consulting the doctor, they went to the hospital's pharmacy to collect the prescribed medicines. The family claimed that the pharmacist spoke only in Hindi, which they could not understand, so they requested her to speak in Bengali. Instead, the pharmacist allegedly responded: "If you understand Hindi, then understand it. Otherwise, go learn Hindi. Hindi is the official language. I will not speak Bengali."
After receiving the medicines, the family visited a nearby pharmacy outside the hospital to verify the dosage. There, they learned that the pharmacist had not given the medicine prescribed by the doctor and had instead provided the wrong medication. Alarmed, they hurried back to the hospital pharmacy, where another pharmacist quickly replaced the incorrect medicine. However, the woman pharmacist accused of misbehaviour still refused to communicate in Bengali.
Ranjit Saha, a relative of the patient, said: "She gave the wrong medicine to us. If we hadn't checked outside, we would have given the wrong medicine to our child. After such a serious mistake, she misbehaved with us over language."
Members of the 'Bangla Pokkho' rushed to the hospital upon receiving information and demanded strict action against the pharmacist. Siliguri Police also reached the spot to assess the situation. Rajat Bhattacharya of Bangla Pokkho said: "Why should people be forced to speak Hindi in a hospital in Bengal? Many people come from remote villages and may not know Hindi. Why are Hindi-speaking people being appointed in Bengal's hospitals when so many Bengali youths are unemployed? This cannot be accepted."
Responding to the incident, Dr Chandan Ghosh, the hospital superintendent said: "The pharmacist in question was working as an intern and is still under training.
The mistake was corrected immediately. We have received a complaint. An internal inquiry will be done and necessary action will be taken."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.