The Union Government has announced the President and other Board members for the upcoming All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) near Madurai.
While Dr VM Katoch, the President of JIPMER, Puducherry will be the President of the AIIMS, what has raised eyebrows is the appointment of Dr Shanmugam Subbiah, Professor and Head (Department of Surgical Oncology) at the Kilpauk Medical College, as a board member. Subbiah was in the news recently for allegedly harassing a senior woman citizen in Chennai by throwing garbage in front of her door and urinating there.
He is also the National President of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students wing of the BJP.
Though the complaint was withdrawn later, the complainant, who was the woman’s nephew had made it clear that they were under immense pressure to do it. According to the complainant, Subbiah started harassing the woman after an argument around the use of a vacant parking space in the apartment complex.
What allegedly followed was a series of unwarranted behaviour from his part, where the complainant claimed that he left garbage outside her door and even urinated in front of it.
The complainant’s family had also attached a CCTV footage of a man peeing in front of the complainant’s door to support their allegations. Subbiah, however, had denied the allegations and had claimed that the video attached as evidence was doctored.
Several political leaders and social media users have now questioned the rationale behind the union government’s decision to appoint Shanmugam Subbiah as a member of the AIIMS Madurai Board.
VCK leader and Member of Parliament from Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram D Ravikumar questioned whether this decision is not an insult to women. “Appointing an accused in a case involving women's harassment as a member of AIIMS, Madurai. Isn’t this insulting women?” he tweeted in Tamil.
Congress MP from Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu also demanded that Shanmugam Subbiah be removed from this post. “Unbelievable action by Health Minister @drharshvardhan. Madurai Thoppur AIIMS gets Subbiah Shanmugam as member . kindly withdraw the order and remove him from the committee. How can Dr Harsh Vardhan justify when the harassment of women is still pending? #RemoveSubbiahShamugam,” he tweeted.
DMK MP Kanimozhi also tweeted against the move and questioned whether this is an endorsement of his behaviour. “Is this an endorsement of indecent behaviour and also an incentive for other BJP cadres to follow suit?” she tweeted.
Several social media users also expressed their outrage at the appointment.
According to the notification issued by the government of India on 15 October, Dr Sudha Seshayyan, the Vice Chancellor of Tamil Nadu’s Dr MGR Medical University, Chennai is also a member of the AIIMS, Madurai Board.
(This article was first published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission.)
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