A good doctor but bad administrator

NEW DELHI: Now that the war between AIIMS director P Venugopal and health minister Ambumani Ramadoss is out in the open, the battlelines are being drawn openly. While resident doctors and students are supporting Venugopal wholeheartedly, the faculty feels obliged to go along with them.

"Though most faculty members have differences with the director, some of us are forced to take his side, simply because we fear the autonomy of the institute may get compromised. If the health ministry gets a chance to interfere now, it might never stop," said a senior faculty member.

Meanwhile, Ramadoss met the Prime Minister on Monday. The minister said he had a lot of respect for the director as a doctor but not as an administrator.

Adding to the rumours of a witch-hunt, Ramadoss clearly indicated that legal action would be taken against all those who helped the strike. A list has been released by the ministry, which specifies which doctors are to be watched and those who are to be warned.

Ramadoss has also set up a three-member committee which will look into the functioning of AIIMS. Faculty members at AIIMS dubbed the setting up of the committee a mere eye-wash.