In response to the incubator tragedy at Patiala’s Rajindra hospital, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal said on Tuesday that he would not accept the resignation letter of medical education minister Tikshan Sud as it’s not Sud’s fault.

As the shout for accepting the minister’s resignation bobbed up among the medical community following the death of five (5) newborn babies in the fire, Mr. Badal said that the report of a legal inquiry would clear everything so he would wait for the final report before taking any action.

The nurses as well as doctors’ unions also stated that Sud should go for ‘mishandling’ his department.

Sud has submitted his resignation following the episode on Tuesday Morning, though the resignation is yet to be accepted.

When asked why the inspection committee had been given a period of 3-months, Badal replied that the inquiry commissioner was “free to ask for even more time”.

Dr. P L Garg, former registrar of Baba Farid University urged the CM to accept Sud's resignation without any delay and take over charge of the department.

Mr. Garg said, “Under Sud, the department alienated academic circles and the medical services associated with it because of its myopic vision. There are only 150 nurses against the sanctioned strength of 480 and resident doctors are chucking government jobs because of irrational long duty hours and poor salaries. The minister, his previous secretaries and the DRME failed to address our problems and rather harassed us.”

During Sud’s tenure, the department got stuck in one controversy after another.

Medical colleges confronted disaffiliation warnings and transfers of medical officers led to emergency-like situation in medical colleges.

According to sources, Mr. Badal has also suspended the principal of the medical college, Dr. Jaswinder Pal Kaur Shergill.

The incident occurred during the wee hours of Saturday (Jan 31) in which five (5) newborn babies were burnt alive in a fire that broke out in the children’s nursery of Rajindra Medical College & Hospital in Patiala.

The state government as well as the hospital authorities have come under massive criticism following the fire and the deaths.