'Ramadoss using AIIMS money to fight director'

New Delhi, May 9: Health Minsiter Anbumoni Ramadoss came undersevere criticism in the Rajya Sabha today with BJP charging him withmaking his ''personal differences'' with AIIMS director P Venugopal a''dispute for the government'' and using the institutes' fund to removeits director.

Participating in the discussion on the working of the Ministry ofHealth and Family Welfare, BJP leader and Chief Whip S S Ahluwalia saidthat when Dr Ramadoss took over as the Health Minister, people werehappy that now a qualified doctor has been given the charge ofministry.

However, they were quickly disappointed as the Minister made hispersonal differences with the AIIMS Director a dispute for thegovernment which became a matter of concern even for Prime MinisterManmohan Singh. The Prime Minister constituted a Committee to look intoaffairs of AIIMS, he pointed out and lamented that the fate of theValiathan committee was not yet known as its report was not placedbefore Parliament and nothing was about its recommendations or theirimplementation.

In this fight of Minister Vs Director, the research activities atAIIMS were suffering, he regretted and said that only beneficiaries ofthis dispute were lawyers who were minting money. The AIIMSadministration was giving money to lawyers to remove its own Director,who is a world-renowned heart surgeon and has been appointed notbecause of any favoritism or psychophancy. Instead of respecting theeminent doctor, the minister was fighting to remove him by using theAIIMS money only, he charged.

The BJP leader also criticised Dr Ramadoss for putting into thecold storage the proposals to set up six AIIMS like institutes andupgrade 12 existing ones to that high level of tertiary care with 100bed hospitals attached to them.

Pointing out the high patient load on the All India Institute ofMedical Sciences where about 25 lakh patients come annually from allover the country, Mr Ahluwalia said that the previous NDA regime hadsanctioned setting up six new AIIMS-like institutes in states andupgrading 12 other medical institutions. However, the UPA Governmentput it on the slow track and despite land being sanctioned for themthese institutes have not yet come up.

UNI

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