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Ludhiana | BFUHS row: Health minister comes under fire from medical fraternity
Different medical bodies, including Indian Medical Association (IMA) Ludhiana, Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA), have expressed anguish and a section has also demanded that the health minister should tender an apology to the surgeon.
Amid a row over the incident wherein vice-chancellor (V-C) of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) Dr Raj Bahadur was made to lie on a ‘dirty’ hospital bed by health minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra, medical fraternity condemned the incident and slammed the minister for his ‘unruly’ behaviour towards the veteran surgeon.
The minister ‘misbehaved’ with the V-C during an inspection conducted at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital in Faridkot.
Different medical bodies, including Indian Medical Association (IMA) Ludhiana, Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA), have expressed anguish and a section has also demanded that the minister should tender an apology to the surgeon.
Doctors said the government should concentrate on improving the health infrastructure instead of such cheap publicity tactics, which also bring down the morale of the medical fraternity in the state.
The members of PCMSA said such blatant disrespect for a senior health functionary is appalling.
Ludhiana vice-president of PCMSA Dr Rohit Rampal said, “We express deep resentment over this unfortunate incident. Public shaming of a senior doctor on systemic issues is strongly condemnable. Instead of pragmatically addressing the issues of meagre funds allocation, medicine shortages, acute staff crunch and grossly inadequate infrastructure, the government is busy hiding its inadequacies by publicly mauling the public health officials in the garb of surprise checkings. The escapist attitude of the government is truly uncalled for. Incidents like these will actually dampen the morale of public health providers and will ultimately lead to the collapse of the government health sector.”
Senior vice-president of Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) and former chairperson of Ethical Committee Punjab Medical Council Dr Arun Mitra said Bahadur is a veteran surgeon. The ills in the healthcare system are because of poor funding by the government and not because of the vice-chancellor. The budget allocation for the health sector is only 3.03 per cent of the total budget instead of the required 11 per cent. With this meagre amount, one can only expect torn sheets and mattresses on beds. Health minister should apologise for his misbehaviour and concentrate on improving the health infrastructure instead of such cheap publicity tactics, he added.
The members of IMA, Ludhiana, said this kind of treatment with a senior doctor and political arrogance by the minister is not acceptable.
President IMA Ludhiana Dr Bimal Kanish said the doctors have expressed their anguish over the incident and the entire medical fraternity has stood in the support of Dr Bahadur. IMA also supports his decision to resign from the post of V-C.
The minister had made the VC to lie down on a ‘dirty’ bed during an inspection conducted at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital in Faridkot.
CPI also condemns minister’s behaviour
The district unit of Communist Party of India (CPI) also condemned the alleged unruly behaviour by the health minister. The CPI members said such incidents create bad precedence in the society. Rather than asking the V-C to lie down on the dirty bed, the minister should have held a dialogue and inquired about the issues being faced by the university.
