PGI prof fails to reply to chargesheet

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 20

Dr Vikas Gautam of the PGI has failed to respond to a chargesheet served on him in a case of sexual harassment of a research scholar.

Earlier, the PGI Governing Body had asked the institute to take action against him. Following this, the hospital had issued a chargesheet to the doctor asking him to reply in 15 days.

“We had served him a chargesheet on January 30 asking him to respond in 15 days. We have not got his reply yet. There is a possibility that he received the chargesheet late. Thus, the time period given to him for the reply may not be over yet,” reasoned PGI’s official spokesperson Manju Wadwalkar.

When contacted, Dr Gautam refused to comment on the issue.

The researcher had accused Dr Gautam of the Department of Microbiology of sexual harassment last year. After filing a complaint, she had resigned from the project work she was doing under him.

An internal committee, headed by Prof Savita Kumari, had submitted its report to the PGI Director in this case. The matter was later discussed in a meeting of the Governing Body.

The Governing Body, being a disciplinary authority, had ordered to initiate disciplinary proceedings against him. It further observed that the inquiry proceedings should be completed in a time-bound manner. It further recommended that awareness workshops on women safety may be held from time to time.

A faculty member alleged, “The PGI has been soft on faculty members involved in such cases in the past as well. Even in the case in question, the complainant must have got discouraged as till today the authorities here seem to be avoiding a stern action and setting an example.”

Similarly, the PGI’s sexual harassment committee had earlier submitted its report in a case, which allegedly involved Sahib Singh, private secretary to Dr T Shyam K Singh, Head, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery Department, to PGI Director Dr Jagat Ram. But no stern action was taken. Prior to this, a woman working on contractual basis had accused a clerk in the medical education cell of sexual harassment. A complaint was also lodged with the police. Later, both the parties had reached a compromise.