Left support to sack-Venugopal drive

Where it does not hurt politically, the Left parties are willing to go along with the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The latest instance of this is the Left's stand on the AIIMS imbroglio.

The Left leaders have decided to support Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramdoss's bid to remove Dr Venugopal from the post of AIIMS director. The minister is engaged in a bitter difference of opinion with Venugopal for the past several months.

However, this time too, there is a rider. The Left parties will only allow those amendments in the law which affect Venugopal's tenure. In return, Ramdoss has to drop certain other clauses that seek the Centre's increased interference in removing the director in future.

On Monday, he pleaded with the Left parties to pass the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences and The Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2007, bypassing the recommendations of the standing committee.

The Bill seeks to freeze the retirement age of the AIIMS director at 65 or 5 years of service, whichever is earlier. Venugopal is now 66 years old and is due to retire on June 30, 2008.

The Bill seeks similar terms for the director of another reputed medical Institute, Chandigarh's Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research.

The general practice is to refer a Bill to its departmental standing committee after being introduced in the House. Once a Bill goes to a parliamentary committee, the government can't act on it and has to wait till it submits its recommendations.

Fearing that this process will consume several more months, Ramdoss has sought the Left's support to directly pass the Bill during this short session to ensure that before the new year begins, there is a new director at AIIMS.

Ramdoss failed to introduce the Bill in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday owing to disruptions.

At the meeting with the Left, the minister said that AIIMS was not functioning properly and blamed the director for its deterioration. The Left agreed to Ramdoss' removal but objected to the central government exercising its power to remove directors.

According to a CPI(M) leader, "If we give more power to the government, the autonomy of this great institute will vanish. We will not allow Ramdoss to do that."

This means that though the Left opposes the philosophy behind the Bill, it will prevent it from being referred to a standing committee, thus speeding its passage, possibly for concessions elsewhere.