VC Bhandari given marching orders
FIVE months after her appointment as Vice-chancellor (VC) of the Patan Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS), Dr Sangita Bhandari was given marching orders on Thursday, effectively resuming services at the Patan Hospital that had come to a halt. All members of the Senate, the highest authority of the PAHS, summoned by Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai to his residence on Thursday, voted to relieve Dr Bhandari of her position. Dr Bhandari had been suspended on December 5 last year after the PM, who is also the PAHS Chancellor, formed a three-member committee to investigate the protests by PAHS doctors and staff. The committee, led by National Planning Commission member Dr Shiva Kumar Rai and with Secretary at the Ministry of Health and Population Dr Praveen Mishra and Secretary at the Ministry of Education Suresh Man Shrestha as its members, submitted its report last week. In the report, the committee pointed out Dr Bhandari’s failure to abide by consensus in the decisionmaking process, leading to the institution’s malfunctioning and recommended that she be sacked. “All the 14 present, from among the 22 members of the Senate, unanimously voted for the recommendations of the probe committee,” said one Senate member on condition of anonymity. However, the Prime Minister’s Office has yet to make the decision public. According to the PAHS Act 2008, one-fourth of the Senate can submit an application regarding the conduct of office bearers, for which the chancellor will form a three-member committee to deal with the matter. The Act also specifies that upon the formation of the committee, officials will be suspended “until the matter is resolved.” Further, the Act states that the chancellor has the right to sack officials if they are found guilty. Dr Bhandari, who was appointed the VC allegedly under political pressure, is the first cousin of Sarat Singh Bhandari, the chairman of the Rastriya Madhes Samajbadi Party and a former minister. Dr Bhandari is also an advisor to the UCPN (Maoist)- affiliated Health Professionals’ Association. Rector Dr Soumya Bhattacharya, whose appointment also instigated protests at the PAHS some three months ago, is also apparently contemplating resigning, now that her colleague, Dr Bhandari, has been removed. PAHS staff and doctors had been protesting Dr Bhandari’s “unilateral” decision to appoint Dr Bhattacharya, claiming that such an action would “ruin” the reputation and functioning of the hospital. Dr Bhandari, for her part, said the result was expected. “Since I did not resign, the Senate was called to remove me,” she said. “I am waiting for the letter and will move the courts and seek justice.”
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