A day after he made the controversial statement to chop off hands of errant doctors, Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Saturday made a U-turn saying he had used a Hindi proverb to convey that doctors are not serious in their service to the poor.
Doctors’ organisations had issued 24-hour ultimatum to Mr. Manjhi seeking his apology.
“I used a Hindi proverb to express my feelings against errant doctors whose number is not more than 10 per cent. What I meant was that I would restrict the powers of the doctors if they would not treat poor patents sincerely”, clarified Mr. Manjhi.
He visited the Patna Medical College and Hospital to open an eye bank.
When told about the outcry over his statement, Mr. Manjhi explained that they (doctors) should have knowledge of Hindi proverbs.
“Chopping off hands means restricting rights and powers. I had not used the proverb in literal sense”, he said.
The Chief Minister had made the controversial statement while addressing a public meeting.
In an emergency meeting on Saturday, the Bihar unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Bihar State Health Association (BSHA) issued an ultimatum to the Chief Minister to feel “sorry on what he had said”.
The doctors also said that if he would not feel “sorry” they would knock the door of human rights commission and the court. “We’ll again meet on October 26 to chalk out our strategy on this issue”, said Dr Shahajanand Singh, vice-president of the IMA.
