AIIMS erupts

By Praveen Kumar; and Vijaita Singh, in Indraprasth
The Pioneer
Thursday, July 6, 2006

Institute shuts down as Minister goes on rampage ---- The
crisis at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences
deepened further on Wednesday with Union Health Minister
Anbumani Ramadoss bulldozing a resolution to terminate
the services of Director P Venugopal at the extraordinary
meeting of the governing body. Look Back in Anger: P
Venogopal comes out of the meeting on Wednesday - Pioneer
photo

As news spread about the Minister's brazen action,
protests erupted on the AIIMS campus and other hospitals
of the city. Cutting short the discussion on
"misgovernance of AIIMS", the Minister piloted the
resolution with a voice vote realising that a division
could be embarrassing for the Government.

The three members who were initially allowed to speak
were critical of the Government's interference in the
day-to-day functioning of the institute and counselled
for peace between the Minister and the director. Those
who spoke included Member of Parliament Vijay Kumar
Malhotra, Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Deepak Pental
and Dr SS Aggarwal of the Central Drug Research
Institute, Lucknow.

Gauging the critical mood of the non-official members,
the Minister guillotined discussions and forced the
passage of resolution with a voice vote refusing
division. Making a complete mockery of the process, the
Minister then called Dr Venugopal into the meeting only
after the decision had been taken and asked if he had
anything to say in his support.

Faced with a fait accompli, the veteran cardiac surgeon
said he would reply in writing when he was served the
decision in writing as there was no point in addressing a
house which had taken a decision without even hearing
him. Venugopal was earlier asked by the Minister to leave
the meeting before the resolution was taken up for
discussion.

As soon as the news of the dismissal filtered out, AIIMS
campus erupted with residents and faculty instantly going
on a strike and raising slogans against Ramadoss and
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "He is a lollipop Prime
Minister who has no control over his cabinet colleagues,"
said agitated doctors as they went around clamping locks
on each and every department of the premier institute.

The Government had no contingency plan in place for
patient care in the event of the strike. The only
arrangement they had made was post one DCP, two ACPs and
four SHOs with 1000 constables on the campus to avoid any
untoward incident.

"The Minister has not been able to find anybody so far to
take charge from Dr Venugopal to function as the acting
director of the institute. The institute today is
virtually headless," said Dr Vinod Patro, President,
Resident Doctors Association. According to sources, the
initial plan was to foist Health Secretary PK Hota as
incharge but he is believed to have wriggled out of the
situation citing technical reasons.

Criticising the Minister's decision, VK Malhotra, later
told mediapersons, "It is the blackest and saddest day
for AIIMS and by taking such a decision, the Government
has attacked the autonomy of the institute. It is a
draconian step and the Minister is trying to fulfil his
political agenda."

Malhotra accused Ramadoss of taking a decision in the
name of the code of conduct without giving an opportunity
to Venugopal to defend himself. According to Malhotra,
Ramadoss very arrogantly said Venugopal could be given
three months' salary and asked to go.

Seeking the intervention of the President and the Prime
Minister, Indian Medical Association president-elect
Sanjeev Malik said, "It is a very, very unfortunate
decision. It is a reflection that we are losing the
autonomy of premier institutes and medical health
services in the country."

The doctors rued that when they were staging peaceful
demonstrations during the anti-reservation
demonstrations, no one listened to them.

The situation could take a precarious turn with the
karamchari unions also going on a strike. "This is our
golden jubilee year and such a great institute is in a
shambles during this time. Why should only we think about
the patients' condition. Isn't it the duty of the
Government to think about them," asked Dr Subir Das of
the Neuro-Anaesthesia department.

The non-critical patients were being turned away and
there were no admissions taking place.

"This is a fight between politicians and doctors. The
Resident Doctor's Association have gone on an indefinite
strike along with the student unions and Society for
Young Scientists," added Dr Patro. The Faculty
Association of AIIMS has gone on a 24-hour flash strike.
Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) also joined the
strike on Wednesday. University College of Medical
Sciences (UCMS) has also given a call for strike and will
hold a general body meeting on Thursday to decide their
course of action.

As soon as the strike was announced, the hospital bore a
deserted look with all the corridors devoid of any staff.
"My son was admitted today, the doctors asked me to leave
as they were going on strike. I do not know what to do,"
said Karim (50), resident of Bihar.

The doctors were undeterred about any extreme action
being taken against them. "We do not care even if they
sack us. We are qualified people and there is no dearth
of jobs for us. We would join the corporate sector," said
Dr Manisha Das, resident doctor, AIIMS.

The doctors were garnering support from autonomous
institutes all over the country. A letter of support for
Dr P Venugopal from GSVM Medical College, Kanpur reached
them on Wednesday.

Each and every department of the hospital would be shut
down on Thursday including emergency. There were vehement
protests against the Health Minister and his OSD DS
Moorthy. "He was provided accommodation in the hospital
only to keep a tab on our activities," charged a doctor.
"Such an educated doctor like Dr Venugopal does not
deserve treatment like this," added another doctor.

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