Venugopal: More trouble

New Delhi, July 1: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences could find itself in fresh trouble, this time due to a turf war between institute director P. Venugopal and the health ministry.

Late last evening, Venugopal issued a letter assuring resident doctors at the premier institute that they would “receive pay for the period between May 15 and May 31” ? the days they had struck work to protest the government’s backward class quota move.

But the letter overrides a health ministry directive of “no work, no pay”. On June 5, the ministry issued a circular announcing that the striking doctors would not be paid for the period of the 15-day strike.

Venugopal’s letter also says doctors will have to work extra hours to compensate for the hours spent off duty, but will not do special internships ? work during designated breaks.

The health ministry does not seem pleased with Venugopal’s “unilateral decision”.

“The government pays salaries, not the AIIMS director,” said a senior ministry functionary.

“Industrial workers in the public sector do not get paid for days they are on strike. Why should the AIIMS doctors be treated differently?” the official asked.

Youth for Equality, the body that spearheaded the anti-reservation protests, welcomed Venugopal’s move. “This is the only just and fair thing to have been done,” said Venkat, one of its members.

AIIMS doctors who are under the banner of Youth for Equality have threatened to quit the institute if Venugopal is “pressured to resign.”

Other resident doctors at AIIMS, though happy, feel the director’s decision could lead to a divide between doctors at AIIMS and medicos in the capital’s four other medical colleges.

“We (doctors from the five colleges) had all together approached the Supreme Court on this matter. Now, while we celebrate, the others still need to continue the case,” said Rajnish, a member of the Resident Doctors’ Association.