06-17-2006, 01:03 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Sack Ramadoss </b>
The Pioneer News Desk
He is a risk to India's health sector ---- Ever since taking charge as Union Health Minister with the advent of the UPA Government, Mr Anbumani Ramadoss, whose <b>credentials as a medical practitioner do not merit comment, has been going about inflicting enormous damage to the country's health infrastructure with single-minded devotion.</b> From insisting on meddling in the affairs of the Indian Medical Council to poking his nose in the setting up and management of private medical colleges, <b>from authorising bulk purchase of drugs like the anti-bird flu vaccine that are destined to rot away in Government stores at the taxpayers' expense to promoting individuals of questionable repute, his objectionable actions have successfully sullied both his image as well as the office he holds but which he least deserves. </b>Mr Ramadoss's already bruised reputation has taken a fresh beating following his unseemly and uncalled for spat with Dr P Venugopal, Director of the prestigious All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, with the explicit purpose of grabbing control over this premier health facility with a <b>Rs 500-crore budget</b>. It is unthinkable that a Union Minister should get involved with minor administrative affairs of an autonomous institution, slyly ordering the transfer of officials while the Director is on leave. But this is precisely what Mr Ramadoss, true to his style of functioning, has done at AIIMS. That the Minister's gross interference would leave Dr Venugopal - or, for that matter, any self-respecting Director - incandescent with rage was only to be expected. Nor is it surprising that Dr Venugopal, known for his professional accomplishment and personal integrity, qualities that are alien to unprincipled politicians, should have threatened to resign from his post unless the Government reins in its Health Minister. The anger among doctors, who have threatened to put in their papers, and students at AIIMS over the Minister's outrageous conduct bears testimony to the righteous stand taken by Dr Venugopal.
And how has the Minister responded? By justifying his brazen interference, and <b>callously asking Dr Venugopal to resign if he so desires and threatening to take disciplinary action against a doctor who has spent his entire life setting up what is perhaps the best cardio-thoracic-vascular surgery facility in the country. Both commitment and selfless dedication, it would seem, have ceased to matter for the UPA Government.</b> Instead, Ministers utterly lacking in scruples command a premium simply because they represent partners in the ruling alliance whose support overrides all other considerations, including those of probity and rectitude in public life. Here is a Minister whose presence in Government poses a serious risk to the nation's health infrastructure, a Minister who violates norms of propriety, a Minister who disregards the spirit, if not letter, of the Supreme Court's order on the anti-quota agitation, a Minister who throws his weight around and tries to bully people into submission by flaunting his political clout. India can do without such a Minister. Admittedly, stripping Mr Ramadoss of his portfolio is a tough call for the Prime Minister. But that call needs to be taken, and taken now, to save AIIMS. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Ramdoss is diverting funds to TN, appointing his own people, transfering those who are doing good work and pocketing money on every deal.
The Pioneer News Desk
He is a risk to India's health sector ---- Ever since taking charge as Union Health Minister with the advent of the UPA Government, Mr Anbumani Ramadoss, whose <b>credentials as a medical practitioner do not merit comment, has been going about inflicting enormous damage to the country's health infrastructure with single-minded devotion.</b> From insisting on meddling in the affairs of the Indian Medical Council to poking his nose in the setting up and management of private medical colleges, <b>from authorising bulk purchase of drugs like the anti-bird flu vaccine that are destined to rot away in Government stores at the taxpayers' expense to promoting individuals of questionable repute, his objectionable actions have successfully sullied both his image as well as the office he holds but which he least deserves. </b>Mr Ramadoss's already bruised reputation has taken a fresh beating following his unseemly and uncalled for spat with Dr P Venugopal, Director of the prestigious All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, with the explicit purpose of grabbing control over this premier health facility with a <b>Rs 500-crore budget</b>. It is unthinkable that a Union Minister should get involved with minor administrative affairs of an autonomous institution, slyly ordering the transfer of officials while the Director is on leave. But this is precisely what Mr Ramadoss, true to his style of functioning, has done at AIIMS. That the Minister's gross interference would leave Dr Venugopal - or, for that matter, any self-respecting Director - incandescent with rage was only to be expected. Nor is it surprising that Dr Venugopal, known for his professional accomplishment and personal integrity, qualities that are alien to unprincipled politicians, should have threatened to resign from his post unless the Government reins in its Health Minister. The anger among doctors, who have threatened to put in their papers, and students at AIIMS over the Minister's outrageous conduct bears testimony to the righteous stand taken by Dr Venugopal.
And how has the Minister responded? By justifying his brazen interference, and <b>callously asking Dr Venugopal to resign if he so desires and threatening to take disciplinary action against a doctor who has spent his entire life setting up what is perhaps the best cardio-thoracic-vascular surgery facility in the country. Both commitment and selfless dedication, it would seem, have ceased to matter for the UPA Government.</b> Instead, Ministers utterly lacking in scruples command a premium simply because they represent partners in the ruling alliance whose support overrides all other considerations, including those of probity and rectitude in public life. Here is a Minister whose presence in Government poses a serious risk to the nation's health infrastructure, a Minister who violates norms of propriety, a Minister who disregards the spirit, if not letter, of the Supreme Court's order on the anti-quota agitation, a Minister who throws his weight around and tries to bully people into submission by flaunting his political clout. India can do without such a Minister. Admittedly, stripping Mr Ramadoss of his portfolio is a tough call for the Prime Minister. But that call needs to be taken, and taken now, to save AIIMS. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Ramdoss is diverting funds to TN, appointing his own people, transfering those who are doing good work and pocketing money on every deal.