The Goa Association of Resident Doctors (GARD) told Goan Observer that they were betrayed. They insisted that they had no role to play in the apology to the chair of the Health Minister. To quote GARD “Dr Rudresh Kuttikar suddenly brought in Dr Madhu Ghodkirekar as his spokesperson and he began talking about the insult to the chair. They have no clue about it. We were taken back and felt betrayed. We have become a national joke despite putting all our efforts to stand behind our doctors.” GARD members told the Goan Observer that CMOs chair was brought from the causality department. Dr Madhu insisted that it was symbolic of the health minister’s chair because he has sat on it. Dr Madhu insisted that everyone should apologize for the insult that tool place to the chair on which Vishwajit Rane as occupied during his visit to causality ward.
IN a diabolical twist to the Goa Association of Resident Doctors (GARD) protest against the humiliation of Chief Medical Officer Dr Rudresh Kuttikar, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant asked the striking doctors to apologize symbolically to the chair which Health Minister Vishwajit Rane occupied. In the closed-door meeting over which the CM presided at the Dean’s office at 1.30 pm on Tuesday, June 10. The doctors present were asked to apologize to an empty chair which was a substitute representing the health minister’s chair.
It was a stage-managed meeting which Dean Dr Shivanand Bandekar and the CM facilitated wherein the forensic doctor Dr Dr Madhu Ghodkirekar, who works at the South Goa District Hospital, carried out the formalities. It was Dr Madhu who represented the striking doctors or Dr Rudresh Kuttikar, all of whom then readily agreed to the chief minister’s demand that they should apologize to the symbolic kodel (chair) which represented the health minister.
So much so that instead of Health Minister Vishwajit Rane apologizing to the humiliated CMO Dr Rudresh Kuttikar, the GMC doctors were ask to apologize to the chair. Goan Observer understands that GARD President Dr Aayush Sharma and other office bearers were threatened with expulsion from the GMC if the apology didn’t happen. The dean and a senior consultant reportedly advised Sharma, who was admitted in the national quota, not to compromise his future by supporting Dr Rudresh Kuttikar.
Significantly, the GARD president, Dr Aayush Sharma, refused to entertain any demand for a public apology by Vishwajit Rane in the Casualty ward where he had humiliated Dr Rudresh Kuttikar. Indeed, even on Tuesday morning, June 10, over 600 residents, consultants and students had organized a massive demonstration demanding that Health Minister Vishwajit owed a public apology to Dr Rudresh Kuttikar in the Casuality ward itself where the original dressing down was given to him.
Another anti-climax saw Dr Madhu Ghodkirekar (forensic officer from South Goa District Hospital) addressing a press conference outside the Dean’s office in the presence of the chief minister. Dr Madhu showed up without the knowledge of GARD for a discussion with the chief minister. Dr Ghodkirekar insisted, “If this incident had escalated, it would have led to complete collapse of the health facilities in the state.” Dr Ghodkirekar went on to claim that a government doctor could not demand an apology from the health minister. Dr Ghodkirekar was the first and the only doctor who apologized to the “chair of the Health Minister.”
So in the end instead of Health Minister Vishwajit Rane apologizing to Dr Rudresh Kuttikar in the Casuality ward the GMC doctors were told to apologize to the chair representing medical healthcare. Dr Ghodkirekar praised the chief minister for coming personally and addressing the grievances of the doctors and settling the issue. He went to the extent of claiming that Kuttikar’s demand for an apology was misinterpreted as a demand for a personal apology.
The chief minister added insult to injury by claiming that Dr Rudresh Kuttikar should forget the incident with a big heart and continue his work at GMC, and that “All demands were discussed in the meeting today (Tuesday) and all the demands have been met after holding discussions with GARD representatives, the Dean Dr SM Bandekar and the medical superintendent Dr Rajesh Patil with Dr Rudresh Kuttikar in attendance.”
A GARD representative who refused to apologize to the chair lashed out at Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, “The health minister does not have the grace to visit GMC personally and apologize for his behavior. His unrepentant attitude for the uncultured and arrogant outburst remains a black mark against him.”
The chief minister announced that while the media would not be denied entry, no photography or videography would be permitted in Casualty, the OPDs and the wards. He also announced the formation of a disciplinary committee to handle complaints by or against medical professionals. A case has also been registered against the social media team of the health minister, who posted the video of the humiliation of Dr Kuttikar to all the television channels. President of the Goa Union of Journalists has however clarified that journalists were not involved in the video shooting during Vishwajit Rane’s visit to the casualty ward. Dean Dr Bandekar has also announced that only emergency cases will be treated in Casualty. He also announced that SOPs will be worked out for dealing with VIPs on the lines of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi.
In WhatsApp posts, several doctors protested bitterly about the stage-managed meeting with the chief minister held with GARD representatives. To quote GMC doctors, “Today, a doctor from our own fraternity humiliated us in a closed-door meeting with the CM. Doctors were asked to apologize to a chair – the health minister’s chair because the office of the health minister had been insulted. Most doctors refused to apologize to the chair except for Dr Madhu who had been planted at the meeting. The CM spoke about respecting the chair. Later at the sham press conference Dr Madhu claimed the apology was not for a person but to the chair, which was insulted. Yes, we doctors were made to perform a ritual apology to a piece of furniture, degrading the profession in front of the entire state. Doctors who fought to uphold dignity were betrayed and made into a laughing stock. People now ask if we were bought off. We were not, we were sold out by Dr Madhu. The circus has brought shame to every medical professional in Goa. If lawyers are insulted like this, they will shut the courts. But doctors have to apologize to chairs.”