Venugopal reclaims AIIMS directorship, sacks registrar

NEW DELHI: Patients were relieved as all services at AIIMs resumed on Saturday, but faculty members battled fear.

Dr Venugopal reclaimed his position as AIIMS director, his return simultaneous with the termination of services of registrar Dr VP Gupta. The reason cited was the order passed by registrar regarding the release of salaries of doctors while they were on strike against reservations.

“I am not against Dr Venugopal and do not know why this is happening,” said Dr Gupta. In fact, Dr Gupta said that the order was passed by the director himself on July 1.

Senior faculty members say that Dr Gupta is being made the scapegoat to deflect blame from the director. “Everybody knows that the order was passed by Venugopal. Now that the issue is hotting up, the director is shifting blame,” a faculty member said.

Some doctors now fear a witch-hunt. “On Day 1 itself, one wicket down; let’s see how the game now progresses,” said Dr Vikas Bajpai.