A day after he was forced to lie on a dirty patient bed by health minister Chetan Singh Jouramjra, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences vice-chancellor Dr Raj Bahadur on Saturday resigned saying he was “feeling humiliated, even as the clamour for minister’s removal got shriller.
The V-C said he had conveyed his anguish to chief minister Bhagwant Mann and requested that he be relieved from services as the “work environment was not conducive.” “I am emotional right now as I have given so many years to this university. He (minister) should have not done that much...it was unnecessary. I’ve narrated the entire incident to the CM. He has apologised and expressed regret over the behaviour of his minister,” said Dr Bahadur, 71, a specialist in spinal surgery and joint replacement, and a former director-principal of Government Medical College and Hospital in Chandigarh. He has also been the head of the orthopaedic department at PGIMER, Chandigarh.
Mann, it is learnt, has taken a strong view of the incident and spoken to Jouramajra. The CM is also learnt to have asked Bahadur to continue in the position and meet him next week.
Dr Raj Bahadur turns emotional
{{/usCountry}}Dr Raj Bahadur turns emotional
{{/usCountry}}Later, in an interaction with reporters in Mohali, Bahadur broke down when state Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring came to meet him to express solidarity. When asked if he would reconsider his decision, Dr Bahadur said “I have sent my resignation to the government and also informed CM, now it’s their decision to make.”
The incident triggered an outrage and various doctors’ bodies including the Indian Medical Association strongly condemned Jouramajra over his behaviour and demanded his resignation. Opposition parties too hit out at the AAP dispensation. The incident happened on Friday when Jouramajra was on an inspection to Faridkot’s Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, which comes under the BFUHS.
A video clip of the incident that circulated on the social media showed Jouramajra place a hand on the veteran surgeon’s shoulder as he pointed towards the “damaged and dirty condition” of the mattress inside the hospital’s skin department. The minister is then seen to be allegedly forcing Dr Bahadur to lie down on the same mattress.
Bahadur in the video is seen explaining to the minister that he was not responsible for the facilities, to which the AAP leader retorted, “Everything is in your hands.” Bahadur said the minister during the inspection started pointing out why mattresses were damaged, why AC was not working, and furniture not in order. Bahadur said that he told him that there was a process to procure various requirements of the hospital and an order for replacing damaged mattress was being placed. But the minister wanted to see that very mattress which was damaged.
IMA seeks minister’s apology
The IMA demanded the minister’s unconditional apology and resignation for his “misbehavior” and appealed to the CM to immediately take necessary action against him. Opposition parties, too, hit out at the AAP dispensation over the incident.
“The sort of behaviour meted by the health minister to V-C Baba Farid Medical University Dr Raj Bahadur is absolutely uncalled for. @BhagwantMann ji should take strict action against the arrogant minister,” senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said in a tweet.
Former chief minister Amarinder Singh tweeted, “Outrageous & atrocious behaviour of Punjab health minister Chetan Jouramajra is unacceptable. Not only should he apologise to Dr Raj Bahadur a distinguished doctor, he should be sacked immediately. This is a test case for @BhagwantMann to restore confidence of medical community.
“Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal called out the minister for “reprehensible behaviour.”
In Chandigarh, Mann sought to downplay the issue, saying, Dr Bahadur was his friend and had treated his father when he was the Principal of Government Medical College, Sector 32.
“Sometimes such bitter moments crop up during the work but at the same time I think this could have been handled in a better way,” said the chief minister in an informal interaction with reporters after attending a seminar on drug trafficking and national security.
The AAP’s Punjab unit chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang took on the opposition for “shedding crocodile tears to score brownie points before the media over the matter”. Terming the incident “unfortunate”, Kang said that “the manner in which the opposition is doing cheap politics over the issue is equally unfortunate.”