Mumbai : Doctors and staff of Sion Hospital on Monday held an hour-long protest to condemn a tabloid report alleging that dean Dr Avinash Supe was involved in the Rs 100 crore e-tendering scam. They have now demanded a retraction and an apology.
On Monday, a city-based tabloid carried a news article stating that a departmental enquiry has been initiated against Supe. According to the report, a preliminary enquiry conducted under Deputy Municipal Commissioner (DMC) Vasant Prabhu had found Supe prima facie guilty of graft and therefore, a departmental enquiry had been initiated against him. And so, hundreds of staff members, including heads of departments, doctors, resident doctors, nurses and class IV employees staged a protest in the hospital premises at around 1 pm on Monday. However, no strike was called and work went on as usual.
“It was a spontaneous strike which not only involved members of the union but everyone from the staff. We took a round of the hospital to show our solidarity towards our dean. But we made sure work wasn’t affected since we didn’t want patients to suffer. We now want a retraction and an apology published,” said Dr Mamta Manglani, head of the pediatrics department at Sion hospital.
FPJ also spoke to Supe who said that the allegations are of a procedural lapse. “I signed the papers as the administrative head but it is only the executive engineer of the BMC which looks at the technicalities. It seems the bid was finalized in one day instead of the mandatory three days.
