Anbumani comes down on AIIMS chief

Chennai, Jun 15 (UNI) Accusing All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Dr P Venugopal of having instigated the anti-reservation stir, Union Health Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss today said ''he is free to quit, if he wants''.

Talking to UNI, the Minister said ''if Dr Venugopal wants to quit, let him quit. He is free to do so. A person who wants to quit will not threaten to quit''.

Dr Ramadoss openly charged Dr Venugopal with instigating doctors and students to go on strike for a fortnight when the Centre announced 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in higher educational institutions.

Dismissing the ''present happenings'' at AIIMS as a ''non issue'', the Minister said ''the very same faculty which had instigated the reservations stir, is instigating the present issue with vested interest.'' Everything would fall in place if the doctors did their work properly without indulging in petty politics, Dr Ramadoss said, adding, in the last two years, there was an ''administration collapse'' in the institute and it remained ''non-functional''.

Asserting that he was the President of the Institution by a Presidential order, Dr Ramadoss said he had every right to intervene in the affairs ''to set things set right.'' MORE UNI WS AA RA ND2125