Yog Raj Sharma
The North News
Shimla, December 25
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday said that violent behaviour by doctors was “unacceptable”, after the state government terminated a senior resident doctor at Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital following an inquiry into a scuffle with a patient.
The decision follows an incident on 22 December, when a doctor was accused of physically assaulting a patient inside the state’s largest government hospital. A video of the altercation later surfaced on social media, triggering public outrage.
Chief Minister Sukhu sought a report from the IGMC administration soon after the incident. Acting on the findings, the government not only removed the doctor from his post but also terminated his contract.
Speaking on the issue, Sukhu said patients visit hospitals with the hope of recovery and do not expect such behaviour from medical professionals. “Whatever the circumstances, this kind of conduct does not befit a doctor,” he said, adding that while the government remained committed to doctors’ safety, violence against patients would not be tolerated.
The Chief Minister said the inquiry committee had found the doctor at fault, prompting the government to take a “firm decision”. He also noted that the state had taken several steps to reduce the workload on doctors, making such incidents unjustifiable.
The opposition, however, used the incident to attack the Congress-led government. Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur expressed concern over the breakdown of trust between doctors and patients. He said the government must examine why such situations were arising and take concrete steps to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Bharatiya Janata Party’s Himachal Pradesh president Rajeev Bindal went further, describing the episode as a symptom of a wider “systemic collapse”. He alleged that law and order had deteriorated across the state during the government’s three-year tenure and claimed that frustration and administrative infighting had affected every department.
Dr Bindal said doctors were dissatisfied due to lack of facilities, patients were distressed over treatment delays, and the overall healthcare system was under severe strain — a situation he described as “generalised failure”.
