The Punjab Health Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra was asked to quit on Saturday by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) after he made the vice-chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences lie down on a dirty hospital mattress. According to reports, the incident happened on Friday, and as a result, VC Raj Bahadur resigned and asked the Punjab Chief Minister to have him removed from his position.

The IMA called for the immediate attention of the Punjab CM and said that the incident was humiliating. “There have been similar incidences causing humiliation and harassment to the medical community by many politicians. It causes anguish amongst the doctors. The dignity of the Doctor and the work done by such a senior person must be respected. IMA Demands immediate unconditional apology and resignation from the Health Minister of Punjab for his misbehavior”, the medical body said in the letter.

In a video of the incident that surfaced on social media, Jouramajra is seen putting her hand on the renowned surgeon’s shoulder and pointing to the mattress in the skin department of the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital in Faridkot that is “damaged and unclean.” He then seemed to be requesting that the VC to use the same mattress. The AAP leader emphasised that everything was in the Minister’s hands after Bahadur stressed in the video that he is not in charge of the facilities.

The AAP lawmaker has come under fire from a number of sources ever since the incident was made public. The chairman of the Shiromani Akali Dal, Sukhbir Singh Badal, has denounced the minister’s foolish behaviour, while Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, president of the Punjab Congress, has also called for the minister’s resignation

Sunil Jakhar of the BJP also spoke out against the incident, saying, “It’s wrong for the Health Minister to misbehave that way with anyone, much less with a Vice-Chancellor. In addition to being a physician, Dr. Raj Bahadur is well-known in the medical community. Dr. Raj wouldn’t have quit if the former had shown regret yesterday. According to reports, CM Bhagwant Mann has spoken to Jouramajra about the incident and taken note of it. Next week, Mann will encounter Bahadur.

 

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