E-Paper
Felt humiliated, have talked to Punjab CM: Dr Raj Bahadur after quitting as BFUHS V-C
Punjab health minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra under fire for forcing Baba Farid University of Health Sciences to lie down on dirty mattress during inspection on Friday
After tendering resignation as the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) vice-chancellor, Dr Raj Bahadur on Saturday said that he has talked to chief minister Bhagwant Mann about the humiliation he suffered at the hands of state health minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra after being told to lie on a dirty patient bed at Faridkot’s Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital on Friday.
“After the incident, I sent a detailed note of what happened to me. In a telephonic conversation as well, I humbly told the CM that it’s not conducive for me to work in this kind of atmosphere and requested him to relieve me of my duties,” said Dr Bahadur, who has an experience of more than four decades in serving reputed health institutions of the state.
“I have expressed my anguish to the chief minister. I felt humiliated,” the 71-year-old surgeon said.
Punjab CM in no mood to accept resignation
It is learnt that Mann has requested Dr Bahadur to continue and has called him to meet him personally. The chief minister has requested Dr Bahadur to meet him on Monday. The CM is said to be in no mood to accept the resignation of the eminent doctor as vice-chancellor, sources in the chief minister’s office (CMO) said.
They claim Mann called up Dr Bahadur a couple of hours after the incident.
The sources said that the chief minister has taken a strong view of the incident and spoken to Jouramajra, conveying his displeasure.
The incident happened on Friday when Jouramajra was on an inspection of Faridkot’s Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, which comes under BFUHS. A video clip of the incident being circulated on 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 in the hospital’s skin department. The minister is then seen to be forcing Dr Bahadur to lie down on the same mattress.
Dr Bahadur explained to the minister that he was not responsible for the facilities, to which the Aam Aadmi Party leader retorted “everything is in your hands”.
“When you work so hard and put in your best efforts, one does feel low when you have to face this kind of behaviour,” said Dr Bahadur.
Turns emotional at meeting with Raja Warring
Dr Bahadur got emotional when Punjab Pradesh Congress Commttee president Raja Warring came to meet him at Regional Spinal Injury Centre in Mohali.
The vice-chancellor was checking patients at the centre, which he does free of cost every Saturday. Patients from far-flung areas of North India visit him every Saturday and he makes it a point to attend to all of them. He has a waiting list of two to three months at this centre.
Dr Bahadur is a specialist in spinal surgery and joint replacement. He is a former director-principal of Government Medical College and Hospital in Chandigarh and has also been the head of the orthopaedic department at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh.
Medical associations condemn minister’s behaviour
The minister, meanwhile, drew flak from various quarters, including the Indian Medical Association.
The PCMS Association, a doctors’ body in Punjab, too in a statement, strongly condemned the “unceremonious treatment” meted out to Dr Bahadur. The PCMSA said the way the V-C was treated was “deplorable”, its reason notwithstanding.
The body expressed its “deep resentment” over the incident and said “public shaming of a senior doctor on systemic issues is strongly condemnable”.
