Union health minister intervenes in feud between doctors & north body commissioner

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday intervened in the ongoing argument between groups of doctors and the North Delhi Municipal Corporation commissioner,

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday intervened in the ongoing argument between groups of doctors and the North Delhi Municipal Corporation commissioner, Varsha Joshi, over termination of services of a doctor at Hindu Rao Hospital on Thursday.

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Joshi had accused Piyush Pushkar Singh, a DNB (Diplomate of National Board) student in the hospital’s orthopaedic department, of misappropriation of personal protective equipment (PPE) donated by NGOs.

Harsh Vardhan, on Friday, tweeted, “I have spoken to Varsha Joshi ji on phone and asked her to call the aggrieved doctor and resolve the issue. Please wait for her action. I am sure she will take appropriate redressal steps.”

Commissioner Joshi told HT: “I will meet him and work out the appropriate way ahead, as instructed by the honourable minister.”

On Thursday, Joshi had posted a string of tweets: “He (Dr. Singh) not only misled the donor, defied the Medical Superintendent of the hospital, and diverted the material, but also gave it away to people who didn’t need it to the loss of those who needed it more, taking decisions which were nowhere in his purview.” Hindu Rao Hospital in Malka Ganj is a designated “COVID-19 screening centre” in the city.

The Delhi Medical Association (DMA) had also demanded that the doctor be reinstated. A letter from DMA President, Girish Tyagi, on Friday, said, “We condemn the termination of Dr. Piyush Singh at the time of COVID-19 pandemic emergency with allegations of bringing disrepute to the hospital. The commissioner accused him of theft (but) he has produced the bill (for purchase of PPEs) which is in the name of Dr. Piyush Singh.”

The Joint Director of the National Board of Examinations, Dinesh Chand, also wrote to the hospital’s medical superintendent on Friday: “The available documents have not been taken up before the Grievance Redressal Committee… which is an essential requirement for the NBE to address such issues. We therefore direct to cancel his termination…”