VIMSAR Director served show-cause notice, asked to go on leave 

Sambalpur, Dec 8: The Odisha government has served a show-cause notice to the Director of Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) Prof Ashwini Pujahari and asked him to go on leave.

In the show-cause notice served by the commissioner-cum-secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Pramod Meherda, Pujahari has been asked to go on leave till he replies to it and the matter is decided.

Apart from being asked to reply to the show-cause in three days, Pujahari has also been asked to submit the probe reports against him.

“I will furnish all the reports to the Health and Family Welfare department regarding the complaint of the VIMSAR Junior Doctors Association, Odisha Medical Teachers’ Association (OMTA) and some employees of the Institute. I respect the letter of the state government and will respectfully furnish my reply,   ‘ said Pujahari.

He said that he has already submitted these reports to the inquiry committee during its visit to the Institute earlier.

“To convince the government, I will again submit these reports and abide by whatever decision the government will take on this matter,” Pujahari said.

Notably, the VIMSAR director had withdrawn from the surgical practices as the in-charge of Unit-I of the department following a demand from the Junior Doctors Association writing letter to the Head of Surgery Department on Friday afternoon.

“Since the probe committee has raised questions over my treatment methods, I decided withdraw from surgical practice. But I will continue as the director. The demands of junior doctors have been met and they should join duty now,” he had said.

Videos of Pujahari using table salt and tabla therapies had earlier gone viral on social media.

However, the JDA was adamant over the removal of Pujahari from the post.

The junior doctors had been on a cease-work stir opposing his treatment methods and given the state government a 48-hour ultimatum for his removal from the post of director on Thursday.

They had threatened to intensify the stir if their demand was not met.