Stern Action will be Taken Against 'AIIMS Coterie' warns Ramadoss

Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss Friday warned of "strong action" against "indiscipline" he said was brewing at New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), saying a coterie had turned the prestigious institution into a "political hub".

"Some people have converted the AIIMS into a political hub and action will be taken against them when I return to New Delhi June 19," Ramadoss told reporters on the sidelines of a medical seminar here.

Describing the current imbroglio at the AIIMS as an "internal matter of the institution", Ramadoss said he did not understand why internal affairs of the AIIMS were being aired in public.

"It is wrong to say that day-to-day administration was affected by my interference," he said, countering allegations by AIIMS director P. Venugopal on Thursday.

The minister said some senior faculty members at AIIMS had instigated the anti-reservation protests by its students in May and they were responsible for the face-off between the administration and the government over AIIMS' autonomy.

The AIIMS faculty met Thursday and accused the minister of "unduly and intentionally" undermining the prestige and dignity of the premier medical science institution and sought his removal from the post of AIIMS president.

"He (Ramadoss) has been personally targeting AIIMS and victimising faculty members and other staff for reasons best known to him. We demand his immediate removal as president of AIIMS," the faculty association said in a statement.

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"During the last two years there has been a systematic undermining of the institute and the authority of the director," Venugopal had said.

The AIIMS faculty association also took their complaint to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Resident doctors at the AIIMS have launched a signature campaign demanding Ramadoss' removal from the ministry.

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(Source: IANS)