Anbumani Ramadoss got another rose on Thursday. On Thursday morning, newspapers carried a report about how India fell behind strife-torn countries like Ghana and Eritrea in providing healthcare to children. It was a tight slap on our long-held claim to being an emerging superpower. Consecutive governments have allotted meagre amounts to healthcare, especially rural healthcare, and watched as even that was palmed off by middlemen, corrupt officials and politicians. In urban areas, healthcare is dominated by private hospitals and is increasingly becoming out of reach of even the middle classes. It is in such delicate times that a man called Anbumani Ramadoss took over as Health Minister and his publicity gimmicks scared the nation. Instead of ensuring spread of affordable healthcare to every individual, he went after individuals like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan because they smoked or drank or ate potato chips on screen. These were rubbished by all as antics of a desperate publicity seeker. But his one act of rank assholism shall remain etched in history as the man almost caused a conflict between Parliament and the Supreme Court. Thank the Supreme Court.
Thank God for the Supreme Court as its Thursday judgment on Dr P. Venugopal, the sacked director of AIIMS, signifies more than just his reinstatement in the director’s chair. It shows that if one wayward, parochial, prejudiced and anal-retentive politician can force the ruling coalition to bring in a law to remove a doctor from his chair, then the courts, and our Constitution, can stand by a man who might seem too weak to take on a government. It signifies that one pillar of democracy cannot behave like it owns the building.
It is not necessary to love P. Venugopal and side with him in this case. It’s not necessary to hate Ramadoss either. But the sad facts of this sordid drama show that the egotist minister wanted Venugopal out at any cost. He did not even wait till the courts gave their verdict. Fearing the judicial verdict may go in Venugopal’s favour, he brought in a bill in parliament. The bill was passed because the ruling coalition did not want to embarrass itself by not voting for it. The President signed it late evening and in two hours, he removed Venugopal from his chair. Barely months before the cardiac surgeon was to retire, the minister defenestrated him.
Complaining about brain drain is all fine, but if this is the way we treat icons, and professionally Dr Venugopal is one, we should just forget about doctors staying on in public hospitals. Dr Venugopal’s hostility towards Ramadoss is understandable because Ramadoss had brought the Tamil Nadu caste war to the heart of India’s premier medical institutions. Dr Venugopal’s overt and covert support to the anti-quota resident doctors widened the rift. What was plain shameful was the distance Ramadoss was ready to go in this battle. Thursday’s judgment shows he went a little too far.
There was a minister called Ramadoss
Who thought he should be AIIMS boss
So he sacked Director Venu
And appointed someone new
Till Supreme Court sent him for a toss
Dedicate a poem to Ramadoss.
1 Comment
May 11, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Ramadoss was a man
who thought surely can
removed the best director Venu doc
and sat in his position like a cock
Ramadoss thought he was keen
but removed a famous dean
the director was truly great
and ramadoss sat in his position and just ate
the director supporter’s revolted
and he went to court and reported
Director Venu files the report
ramadoss was called by the court
the court proved him wrong
the Director Venu became happy and started to sing a song
Ding Dong Ding Dong
At last director Venu won
Ramadoss tried to run
and hence the victory over evil was repeated