This is not the first time that the director of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has been booted out disgracefully.
NEW DELHI: This is not the first time that the director of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has been booted out disgracefully.
It was in 1980 that AIIMS first got a feel of political interference when its director, LP Agarwal, a senior professor in ophthalmology, was removed in 'public interest' by the Congress government. He was not just removed but also given premature retirement. His fault: He was brought in by the Janata Party health minister, Raj Narayan.
What was formed by an Act of Parliament in 1956 to provide the best medical facility and education, has been struggling with interference, leaving faculty frustrated and prompting some to quit. "AIIMS has been struggling to cope up more with the greed and vindictiveness of politicians than killer diseases," said a former doctor of AIIMS. Despite no provision for the nomination of the health minister as president of the institute in the AIIMS Act, Ramadoss heads the AIIMS Institute Body (IB) and Governing Body (GB) - the top two posts.
"Despite an amendment of the AIIMS Act in 2000 to provide more autonomy and keep away politicisation and government interference, it is now an unwritten rule to have health ministers as presidents of the governing body of AIIMS," said a faculty member of AIIMS. CP Thakur (2000-2002), Shatrughan Sinha (2002-2003), Sushma Swaraj (2003-2004), and now Anbumani Ramadoss have held sway over institute affairs.
No sack if director quits: Govt
Rakesh Bhatnagar
NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday offered to cancel the order sacking AIIMS Director P Venugopal, provided the "eminent cardiologist" submits his resignation. This surprising move came when the Delhi High Court started hearing the Padma Bhushan decorated Venugopal's challenge to his sudden sack resolution passed by the AIIMS governing body headed by Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss. But, Venugopal's counsel Arun Jaitley virtually turned down Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium's offer, saying the issues raised by the surgeon were of larger public and national interest.
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