KGMU Faces Internal Scrutiny After STF Flags Alleged Misconduct in Four Departments

LUCKNOW: A police investigation into alleged religious conversion activities at King George’s Medical University has widened into a question of institutional accountability, with the Uttar Pradesh government asking the prestigious Lucknow-based medical institution to examine allegations of misconduct involving its own personnel.

The university is now expected to scrutinise a Special Task Force (STF) report that describes an alleged pattern of intimidation and unequal treatment across four departments.

The complaints concern women doctors, nursing personnel and other employees, including a contractual worker.

Some members of the university staff are accused of using their positions to exert pressure on colleagues and discourage them from pursuing complaints.

The immediate responsibility for examining the matter rests with KGMU.

The state government has forwarded the findings and instructed the institution to take action under the provisions of the KGMU Act, 2002, and its internal regulations. It has also sought a report detailing the steps taken.

University spokesperson Dr K.K. Singh said the findings would be placed before the executive council. A committee would subsequently be formed to examine the claims and decide whether disciplinary measures were justified.

He clarified that the STF had referred the matter for departmental action rather than recommending criminal proceedings against the employees named in its report.

The executive council is expected to take up the issue at its next meeting, likely to be held next month.

Complaints point to alleged misuse of authority

One of the central concerns in the STF report is the alleged failure of certain university authorities to respond adequately when women employees raised objections to the conduct of colleagues.

The agency has described instances in which complainants were allegedly warned that speaking out could jeopardise their careers, affect examination outcomes or cost them their jobs.

It has also alleged that some faculty members attempted to discredit women who approached them with complaints.

A particularly troubling allegation concerns a contractual computer operator, aged 25, who reportedly complained that a 50-year-old employee from another department was following and harassing her.

Although an internal committee was allegedly set up after she approached the department head, the STF claims that the employee she accused faced no meaningful action. The woman’s contract, however, was terminated.

The report also raises concerns about the handling of complaints involving a nursing employee who was allegedly subjected to harassment after becoming involved with a colleague from another religious background.

The STF claims that pressure was exerted on her to change her faith.

Questions over treatment of women doctors

The agency has also recorded allegations involving a resident doctor accused of manipulating relationships with two women colleagues and subsequently pressuring them to convert.

The women allegedly faced threats concerning their academic and professional futures after they attempted to raise the matter within the department.

In another episode cited by the STF, the family of a woman complainant reportedly felt that the department’s leadership was siding with the doctor accused of misconduct.

According to the report, the department head allegedly portrayed the woman as mentally unstable, leaving her relatives feeling that they had little choice but to consider a compromise.

The report has further questioned the manner in which leave requests from resident doctors were handled.

An additional professor entrusted with approving such applications has been accused of displaying unequal treatment.

The STF alleges that requests linked to Chhath Puja and family bereavements were met with insensitive responses, while leave for certain religious ceremonies and personal engagements was reportedly viewed more favourably in other cases.

These claims, if established, would raise concerns not only about individual conduct but also about the working environment and grievance-redressal arrangements within the departments concerned.

January arrests brought the campus under the scanner

The wider controversy began with a complaint from a man who identified himself as the president of the UP Youth Association.

He called for an investigation into alleged religious conversions and what he termed “love jihad” at the university.

The Lucknow Police subsequently arrested two individuals connected with KGMU in separate cases in January.

Rameezuddin, also known as Rameez Malik, a junior resident in the Department of Pathology, was taken into custody on January 9.

He is accused of sexually exploiting two women and attempting to persuade them to change their religion.

In another case, a medical intern was arrested over allegations that he sexually exploited a nursing student after promising to marry her.

The STF’s subsequent investigation examined whether the incidents were isolated or connected to a wider pattern of alleged misconduct.

Its report reportedly alleges that certain faculty members protected colleagues and other personnel facing complaints, allowing the alleged behaviour to continue.

The findings have now placed KGMU’s internal accountability mechanisms under scrutiny.

The university’s committee will have to assess the claims independently and determine whether the conduct described in the report amounts to violations of institutional rules.

No disciplinary conclusion has yet been announced, and the allegations against the individuals concerned remain subject to examination.