Punjab health minister under fire for forcing surgeon to lie down on dirty mattress

"I have expressed my anguish to the chief minister and said I felt humiliated," Vice Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences Raj Bahadur said.

Chandigarh: Punjab Health Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra has come under fire from several quarters after he was seen forcing the Vice Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) to lie on a dirty mattress at a hospital. After the incident, VC Raj Bahadur said he had conveyed to the Punjab chief minister the "humiliation" he faced and requested that he be relieved from services as the work environment was not conducive.

"I have expressed my anguish to the chief minister and said I felt humiliated," Bahadur told PTI over phone. Later, in an interaction with reporters in Mohali, where he also broke down in tears when State Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring came to meet him to express solidarity, Bahadur said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had expressed regret over the behaviour of his minister.

Asked if he will take back his resignation, Bahadur replied, "I told the chief minister whatever happened...the chief minister apologized." The incident triggered an outrage and various doctors' bodies including the Indian Medical Association strongly condemned the Health Minister over his behaviour.

Sources said that the chief minister has taken a strong view of the incident and spoken to Jouramajra. Mann is also learnt to have asked Bahadur to continue in the position and meet him next week. "When you work so hard and put in your best efforts, one does feel low when you have to face this kind of behaviour," Bahadur said about Friday's incident.

The incident happened Friday when Jouramajra was on an inspection to Faridkot's Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, which comes under the BFUHS. A video clip of the incident that circulated on the social media showed Jouramajra place a hand on the veteran surgeon's shoulder as he pointed towards the "damaged and dirty condition" of the mattress inside the hospital's skin department.

The minister is then seen to be allegedly forcing Dr Bahadur to lie down on the same mattress. Bahadur in the video is seen explaining to the minister that he was not responsible for the facilities, to which the AAP leader retorted, "Everything is in your hands." After the incident, Bahadur told CM Mann that that kind of atmosphere was not conducive for his work, and requested him to relieve him of his duties.

Bahadur, 71, who has an experience of over four decades having worked at various reputed health institutions too, told PTI over phone on Saturday that he felt humiliated after the minister's behaviour with him. Bahadur, a specialist in spinal surgery and joint replacement, is a former director-principal of Government Medical College and Hospital in Chandigarh and has also been the head of the orthopaedic department at PGIMER, Chandigarh.

In his interaction with reporters, Bahadur said the minister during the inspection started pointing out why mattresses were damaged, why AC was not working, furniture not in order. Bahadur said that he told him that there was a process to procure various requirements of the hospital and an order for replacing damaged mattress was being placed.

But the minister wanted to see that very mattress which was damaged. Congress' Warring met Bahadur at Regional Spinal Centre, Mohali, to express solidarity and support to him and said he salutes the spirit of the doctor who had dedicated himself to the service of people.

During the meet with Congress leader, Bahadur broke down in tears. Asked why he turned emotional, the doctor told reporters, "I am fine. As you can see, I am attending to my work and have conducted two surgeries today already and am attending to my patients."

The minister, meanwhile, drew flak from various quarters, including the Indian Medical Association. The IMA demanded the minister's unconditional apology and resignation for his "misbehavior" and appealed to Punjab's chief minister to immediately take necessary action against him.

PCMS Association, a doctors' body in Punjab, too in a statement, strongly condemned the "unceremonious treatment" meted out to Dr Bahadur. PCMSA said the way the VC was treated was deplorable, its reason notwithstanding. The body expressed its "deep resentment" over the incident and said "public shaming of a senior doctor on systemic issues is strongly condemnable."

The Indian Orthopaedic Association in a statement said the derogatory behaviour of the minister with a man at the highest pedestal of academics "makes us feel that we are being ruled by a Taliban state". The body demanded that the minister be sacked. Opposition parties hit out at the AAP dispensation over the incident.

Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring demanded the minister's resignation and apology and said the minister's humiliating behaviour with Dr Raj Bahadur is highly condemnable. "The sort of behaviour meted by the Health Minister to VC Baba Farid Medical University Dr. Raj Bahadur is absolutely uncalled for. @BhagwantMann ji should take strict action against the arrogant Minister," senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said in a tweet.

"Otherwise such behaviour will alienate our medical fraternity," he continued in the same tweet. Former chief minister Amarinder Singh tweeted, "Outrageous & atrocious behaviour of Punjab Health Minister Chetan Jouramajra is unacceptable. Not only should he apologise to Dr Raj Bahadur a distinguished doctor, he should be sacked immediately. This is a test case for @BhagwantMann to restore confidence of medical community."

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal called out the minister for "reprehensible behaviour." BJP leader Sunil Jakhar said the treatment meted out to the distinguished doctor is shameful and totally unacceptable. (PTI)