Punjab minister ‘resigns’

A day after five newly borns were burnt alive in an incubator fire, Punjab Medical Education and Research Minister Tikshan Sood resigned from the post owning moral responsibility for the heart-rending tragedy, reports Gurpreet Singh Nibber.

A day after an incubator fire at a hospital here killed five newborns, Punjab’s Minister for Research and Medical Education Tikshan Sud resigned on Sunday owing moral responsibility for the tragedy.

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Sud who visited the Rajindra Medical College and Hospital earlier in the day was greeted by slogan-shouting doctors and medical college teachers, demanding his resignation. The college principal, suspended on Saturday, was made a scapegoat, they said. The hospital is attached to the medical college.

The minister left in a huff and announced shortly that he had sent in his resignation to BJP’s Punjab in-charge Balbir Punj. The BJP is the junior partner of the Shiromani Akali Dal in the state’s coalition government.

Sud’s move, however, was widely criticized. If Sud was serious, he should have sent his resignation to the Governor, said former minister Brahm Mohindra.

Meanwhile, the department of research and medical education suspended Dr Neha, sister Rita and ward attendant Satya on charges of negligence. They were on duty on Saturday.