Reacting angrily to passage of the controversial AIIMS Bill in Parliament today, a sizable section of doctors at the premier institute decided to suspend OPD services and declared they would not give treatment to the politicians who backed the legislation.
Giving an instant reaction to passage of the Bill, which fixes the retirement age of the director of AIIMS at 65 years, the Resident Doctors Association said the OPD services would not operate from Thursday.
"We have decided to suspend OPD services from Thursday in protest against the Bill," said Kumar Harsh, President of Resident Doctors Association.
The OPD services would remain suspended till the Bill is signed by President Pratibha Patil, after which the doctors will adopt a more severe mode of protest, he said.
Harsh further said the doctors at AIIMS would not entertain the politicians who supported the Bill in Parliament.
He alleged the Bill was a blatant attempt made by Union Health Minister A Ramadoss to secure ouster of AIIMS Director P Venugopal.
"Tabling the Bill in Parliament while it was not listed in the business is completely illegitimate. Passage of the Bill could finally lead to shutdown of the AIIMS," he said.
Meanwhile, the anti-Venugopal faction at the premier institute welcomed the Bill. "We are happy that Venugopal, whose tenure has seen many irregularities in the functioning of the institute, will now be removed," said Dr Kapil Yadav of the Progressive Medicos and Scientific Forum.
