Surgeon humiliation row: Punjab IMA demands dismissal of minister; warns of 'strong steps' if demands not met

Punjab: The IMA chapter of Punjab on Saturday sought immediate dismissal of state health minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra over the 'humiliation' of Dr Raj Bahadur at his behest. The Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Dr Raj Bahadur rendered his resignation after being made to lie down on a mattress used for patients by Punjab Health Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra on seeing its bad condition. Jouramajra faced harsh reactions to his actions from different circles.

Punjab IMA president Dr Parmjit Singh Maan condemned Jouramajra's actions and demanded a public apology from him warning if the demands are not met, the IMA would be forced to take a strong step. Dr Parmjit Singh Maan, while addressing the media also demanded that an inquiry be conducted into the matter adding that 'Jouramajra's action appears to be a conspiracy to demoralise the VC and the medical fraternity.' Dr Mann also urged Punjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann to dismiss Jouramajra and replace him with one of his party legislators from the medical fraternity.

State president of the Punjab Civil Medical Services Association, Dr Akhil Sareen also spoke over the incident and stressed that the 'Punjab government needs to address issues of lack of funding before fixing accountability of a healthcare provider.' "The Punjab government needs to address issues of lack of funding, staff crunch and inadequate infrastructure before fixing accountability of a healthcare provider. The last cadre review of doctors was done in the 1990s, even with that set of population, there are around 1,000 doctors short in government hospitals," Dr Akhil Sareen said.

Notably, Punjab Health Min Chetan Singh Jouramajra on Friday visited Guru Gobind Singh Medical hospital and took notice of infrastructure and arrangements. Upon inspecting the mattresses used for patients and seeing the bad condition of the same, the Punjab Health Minister made Dr Raj Bahadue lie on the same.