A report that three doctors and two para-medical staff from a top government hospital in Patna were deputed for over a week at Bihar Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav’s residence triggered a row on Tuesday. The opposition BJP termed it a “shameful act” while the RJD and its ruling partners, the JD(U) and the Congress, saw “nothing wrong” in the action.
Mr. Tej Pratap Yadav is the elder son of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad who recently fell sick and couldn’t attend DMK chief M. Karunanidhi’s birthday celebration in Chennai, in which several non-BJP leaders, including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, were present. Tej Pratap, along with his parents and younger brother Tejaswi Yadav, who is Deputy Chief MInister, lives at 10, Circular Road residence in Patna.
Another recent row
Earlier in April, Tej Pratap was criticised for keeping a fully-equipped ambulance with paramedical staff stationed permanently outside his residence but when the media made a hue and cry, the ambulance was moved away from there.
A team of three doctors and two paramedics from the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, a premier government hospital, was reportedly sent to the residence of Tej Pratap to treat “someone.” The hospital authorities refused to name the patient saying revealing patient’s name was against medical ethics. “The Health Minister is the chairman of our governing board…we’ve to send a team of doctors if he asks for it…we can’t say no…and, it’s a human thing to do,” said Prabhat Kumar Sinha, Medical Superintendent of the hospital. When asked who was the patient, Mr. Sinha added, “I’ll not disclose who he was…doctors take Hippocratic oath not to reveal the name of a patient…their duty is to treat.”
However, sources at the Minister’s residence confirmed to The Hindu that it was Mr. Prasad who had fallen sick and needed medical attention.
Mr. Prasad, said the sources, preferred not to go to the hospital as it would have created panic among his supporters.
