ABVP president's appointment to AIIMS Madurai Board draws flak from TN political leaders

MADURAI: The appointment of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) national president Dr Shanmugam Subbiah as a member to the board of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to be established at Madurai drew sharp criticism from political leaders across Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.

In a gazette notification, dated October 15, issued by the Central government constituting the board of AIIMS Madurai, Dr VM Katoch, president of the JIPMER board, was named president.

Seventeen others, including the vice chancellor of The Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University Dr Sudha Seshayyan, director general of health services at the Health Ministry, additional secretary and financial advisor to the Health Ministry and director of the institute will also be members of the board. However, it was the naming of ABVP national president Dr Shanmugam Subbiah to the board -- as one of the four medical faculties from Indian universities -- that sparked outrage.

Dr Subbiah, who heads the department of surgical oncology at Government Kilpauk Medical College and Government Royapettah Hospital, was booked by Chennai police in July on charges of urinating at the doorstep of the apartment of a 62-year-old woman neighbour following a dispute over car parking.

In CCTV footage, released by the aggrieved neighbour, a person purported to be Dr Subbiah could be spotted urinating at the entrance door of the woman's apartment. He, however, denied the allegations and the complaint was later withdrawn.

Several MPs in Tamil Nadu took to Twitter to oppose the Centre's decision nominating the doctor to the board. Madurai MP S Venkatesan of the CPM questioned if the post was a gift for Dr Subbiah's “lowly” act. Villupuram MP Ravikumar of VCK asked how the appointment of a person accused of harassing a woman was not an insult to women. Thoothukudi MP MK Kanimozhi of the DMK tweeted, "Is this an endorsement of indecent behaviour and also an incentive for other BJP cadres to follow suit?"

Virudhunagar MP B Manickam Tagore of Congress, who flayed the appointment, questioned if the appointment was a reward for the doctor being a member of the RSS or for insulting women. "Is it a form of Manusastra-guided governance?" he asked. In her letter to the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Karur MP S Jothimani of the Congress urged the minister to withdraw the nomination of Dr Subbiah.