‘Send Him to a Jungle’: Minister Orders Transfer of Disabled Doctor for Not Welcoming Him

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Social Welfare, Sanjeev Gond, ordered the transfer of a physically challenged doctor simply because he was not welcomed during a hospital visit in Sonbhadra district. The doctor, Ravi Singh, was attending to a patient when the minister arrived to inaugurate a solar power plant at the Community Health Centre in Dibulganj.

Caught on Camera: Viral Video Sparks Controversy

A video of the incident has gone viral, showing the visibly angry minister demanding on a phone call that the doctor be transferred “outside... to some jungle.” 

Gond alleged that Dr Singh didn’t know how to greet people and questioned his overall behaviour, despite the doctor's attempt to explain that he had been fulfilling his medical duties.

"Why do you keep people like this in my constituency?" Gond asked while speaking to the Chief Medical Officer.

‘He Didn’t Know I Was Coming’

Defending his reaction, Gond told the media that the doctor probably didn’t know he was coming. “If he knew, his behaviour would have been different,” he said.

Congress spokesperson Akhilesh Pratap Singh accused the government of valuing protocol over public service. “The doctor was prioritising patient care, and for that, he's being punished. Such a minister should be sacked,” he said.

Samajwadi Party’s Ashutosh Verma said,“Ministers who put ego above healthcare are dangerous. The BJP government is more concerned about grand welcomes than actual governance.”