Irate doctors boycott chief's farewell

CHANDIGARH: It was a day of bouquets and brickbats for former GMCH-32 director Dr Raj Bahadur, who was relieved of charge on Tuesday. As a mark of their resentment, faculty members who had contested for the post and were not selected boycotted his farewell.
Senior faculty members, including Dr Arjun Dass, head of ENT, Dr Suman Kochhar, head of radio diagnosis, Dr Jagdish Chander, head of microbiology, Dr Harsh Mohan, head of pathology, Dr Satinder Gombar, head of anaesthesia, Dr G P Thami, head of dermatology and Dr Alka Sehgal, reader, department of gynecology boycotted the farewell function of the former director.
Dr Raj Bahadur, who had been on deputation from the PGI since 2007 joined his parent institute, PGI, on Tuesday as head of the orthopaedics department. "I have taken over the office which was once occupied by Dr S S Gill. I have just joined and will focus on patient care as I have had many years of administrative service in my tenure," said Dr Raj.
However, senior faculty members who did not attend the formal function of his farewell said they did so for good reason. "This is to convey the message both to the former director principal and the present one that we will be against those who do not abide by the recruitment rules of the GMCH," said a senior faculty member. According to him, Dr Atul Sachdev, the new director principal, was eighth on the seniority list out of 11 faculty members who contested for the post.