Watch: Punjab minister asks vice-chancellor to lie on dirty hospital mattress
In a video shared by news agency ANI, Punjab health minister Jouramajra can be seen visiting the hospital and taking stock of its infrastructure and arrangements.
After receiving multiple complaints regarding cleanliness in wards, Punjab health minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra on Friday visited the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital in the state's Faridkot district and asked the institute's vice-chancellor Dr Raj Bahadur to lay on a dirty mattress designated for patients.
In a video shared by news agency ANI, Jouramajra can be seen visiting the hospital and taking stock of its infrastructure and arrangements.
“It's all in your hands but what is this?,” Jouramajra asked Bahadur during the inspection.
Jouramajra demanded that he be shown to the hospital's store room. The health minister also took note of the poor condition of the hospital's mattresses and asked the vice-chancellor to lie down as well.
The video drew strong criticism from the opposition Congress which demanded an apology from Jouramajra.
"Punjab Health Minister's humiliating behaviour with Dr Raj Bahadur is highly condemnable. The Minister must apologise," state Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring tweeted on Friday.
Congress leader Pargat Singh, while criticising Jouramajra's actions, also hit out at the state minister's educational background. “Cheap theatrics of the Aam Aadmi Party never ceases. Today the Vice Chancellor of Baba Farid Medical University, Raj Bahadur Singh was publicly humiliated by Health minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra (+2 Pass). This type of mob behaviour will only demoralise our medical staff,” Pargat Singh tweeted.