Renowned orthopaedic surgeon Dr Raj Bahadur, who resigned from the post of vice-chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, said on Saturday that he was “humiliated” by the way he was treated by Punjab Health Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra.
Jouramajra on Friday forced Dr Bahadur to lie down on a grimy mattress in front of staff and patients during an inspection at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital (GGSMCH) in Faridkot.
Speaking for the first time after tendering his resignation, Dr Bahadur said, “I was humiliated.” GGSMCH has 1,100 beds, he said. “Not all mattresses are bad. We had good mattresses also but he wants to see only the bad ones. Had the minister asked me independently, I would have told him about the state of affairs myself,” Dr Bahadur said.
As friends and opposition leaders, including Congress’ Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, came to meet him at Regional Spinal Injury Centre, Mohali, on Saturday, Dr Bahadur was seen breaking down.
He said he had received a call from Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann after the incident Friday night. “I told the chief minister that this was not an environment to work in,” he said.
“I was happy that the minister had visited us. I wanted to bring all this to his notice myself so that we could press for funds. The ministers should help us in helping these institutes. Doctors can advise the government that these institutes are in need of funds. It is for the governments to see,” Dr Bahadur added.
He said they were going to replace these mattresses. “We wanted to purchase 1,000 more mattresses. But it takes nine months to purchase something for government institutes in India if all procedures have to be followed. All 1,100 mattresses are not grimy,” Dr Bahadur said.
On whether he would withdraw his resignation after speaking to the CM, Dr Bahadur said, “It is up to the government. They have to see.”