AIIMS Patna Doctors Go On Strike Alleging Manhandling By MLA, His Wife And Security Personnel

By Dev Raj

Patna: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Patna resident doctors went on a strike on Friday, alleging manhandling by Sheohar MLA Chetan Anand, his doctor wife and security personnel. They demanded action against him and round-the-clock security for doctors at the campus.

Healthcare services, including Emergency, outpatient department (OPD) and other services were affected at the premier institution as the doctors took out a protest march within the premises, flashed placards, raised slogans against atrocities on them, and boycotted work.

They asserted that there would be no compromise with life and honour, and have vowed to continue with the agitation till their issues are addressed.

In a letter to the AIIMS Patna medical superintendent, Anup Kumar, the Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) sought legal action against Chetan, his wife, Dr Ayushi Singh, and the deployment of security personnel on the hospital premises.

“The MLA, his wife and armed guards forcibly entered the hospital area, physically assaulted the security staff, threatened resident doctors with death, and brandished a firearm within the hospital premises,” the RDA said in the letter.

“A hospital guard was brutally injured and the resident doctors were subjected to threats and abuse inside their own workplace,” the RDA said further in the missive.

The Association has put forth four demands, including FIR against Chetan, Ayushi and their security personnel, adequate security inside the AIIMS Patna premises, public condemnation of the incident by the hospital administration and written assurance that such incidents would not happen further, and putting into effect a permanent security protocol at the campus.

AIIMS Patna director Saurabh Varshney told ETV Bharat that the hospital administration was fully with the doctors and was taking steps to address their demands.

“We are on the job and have formed a fact-finding committee to probe into the incident. The committee members will go through the CCTV footage and examine the people in it to arrive at what actually happened. Further action would be taken on the basis of their findings,” Varshney said.

The AIIMS Patna director said that he was yet to see the CCTV footage, and added that he was initiating dialogue with the protesting doctors to break the deadlock.

On the other hand, Chetan, a rebel Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA, has lodged a police complaint alleging that AIIMS Patna staff misbehaved with him and his wife during a visit to the hospital on Wednesday night (July 30).

In the complaint at the Phulwarisharif police station, he has written that the doctors and security personnel at AIIMS Patna roughed him up and his wife up and later held him captive for around 30 minutes.

“We had gone to see one of my supporters who had been injured in a mishap and was admitted to AIIMS Patna. I was not allowed to enter the hospital with my security guard. This prompted my wife to intervene. The staff members and security staff misbehaved and thrashed her. She suffered injuries on her wrists and back,” Chetan said.

The MLA added that he intervened on seeing his wife being beaten up, and was held hostage by the assailants.

Chetan is the son of former MP and muscleman Anand Mohan. His mother, Lovely Anand, is the Janata Dal United (JDU) Lok Sabha member from Sheohar constituency.

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