BJP boycotts Rajya Sabha against AIIMS Bill passage

'Ramadoss' only agenda has been to oust Venugopal'.

The BJP today boycotted the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha and the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) in protest against the passage of the AIIMS Bill.

The Bill seeks to limit the age of the director of AIIMS at 65. By this calculation, P Venugopal, who is engaged in a turf war with Health Minister A Ramadoss, has six months to go before he is removed as the institute's director.

BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj said the party's action was more to with the manner in which the Bill was cleared rather than the more obvious attempt to oust Venugopal.

BJP chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, SS Ahluwalia, wrote to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari that the Bill was introduced in the Upper House by stealth and despite the fact that the BAC had not deliberated on it.

"Moreover," said Swaraj, "any Bill which is introduced is either referred to the standing committee or a select committee for consideration from all angles. The health ministry standing committee chairman is a member of the Rajya Sabha, so by custom, the Bill should have been introduced in the Rajya Sabha instead of the Lok Sabha."

"The health minister is behaving as though in the last few years his only job has been to fight with the AIIMS director and plotting to oust him," she added.

Swaraj was quick to distance herself from the strike by the institute's doctors against the Bill. "We are protesting against the Bill, the strike is an action of the institute's staff and students. We have no comments," she said.

Meanwhile, PTI reports that faced with a threat from the Delhi High Court, AIIMS doctors protesting against the passing of a Bill fixing the retirement age of the institute director at 65 called off their strike today.

"We decided to follow the advice of the faculty, which decided against the strike," General Secretary of the AIIMS Resident Doctors Association, Anil Sharma, said after a meeting of the faculty.

A faction of resident doctors opposing the move to ease out Director P Venugopal went on strike this morning following the passage of a legislation that will see the end of his tenure. However, OPD services were normal.

Earlier in the day, the high court asked the government and the AIIMS authorities to take action against the doctors who went on strike in violation of its earlier order.

"If they (resident doctors) go on strike, their salaries should be deducted and their licences should be cancelled," a Bench comprising Chief Justice MK Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Khanna said.

The decision to withdraw the strike also came after Venugopal moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bill.

Union Health Minister A Ramadoss has been involved in a bitter turf war with Venugopal. The protesting doctors allege the Bill is part of Ramadoss' personal vendetta against Venugopal. "Though we have decided against the strike, we will continue our silent protest," Sharma said.