BS RAWAT
A senior doctor at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-Delhi has been served a show cause notice after he raised the issue of the inadequacy of the protective gear given to healthcare workers at the institute.

The notice sent to senior resident Dr Rajkumar Srinivas refers to a tweet he posted on May 25, where he claimed that statistics related to N95 masks issued by the health ministry and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) were a lie.

The show-cause notice issued by the registrar of the institute said, "Dr Srinivas has provided no details to support his claim and despite access to institutional mechanisms for grievance redressal, has chosen to voice his claim on a public platform and sought media visibility to malign institutions.”

“Apart from being a senior resident at the department of psychiatry, he is also the General Secretary of the RDA, AIIMS, New Delhi. By virtue of holding these important positions, his words have the ability to influence the public and healthcare workers around the country," the notice states.

"At a time when the nation is fighting against a pandemic, unsubstantiated statements such as these can damage the morale of the frontline healthcare workers, leading them to doubt the protection available to them," it said.

“Dr Srinivas is hereby directed to show cause, why action should not be taken against him for breach of CCS (CCA) Rules by 5 pm on June 3, failing which it will be presumed that he has nothing to say in his support and disciplinary action will be taken accordingly,” the notice warned.