Panaji: Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant on Sunday defused a raging controversy by overturning his Health minister’s decision to fire a senior doctor at Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH).
“I have reviewed the issue at Goa Medical College and held discussions with the Health Minister. I want to assure the people of Goa that Dr Rudresh Kuttikar will not be suspended,” CM Sawant wrote on X.
On Saturday, Health minister Vishwajit Rane ordered the suspension of Dr Rudresh Kuttikar for his ‘arrogant’ behaviour.
In a widely-circulated video, Rane is seen asking the doctor to control his tongue and giving him a piece of his mind in a hospital ward. In front of other doctors, medical staff, and his security persons the minister suspends Dr Kuttikar and orders him to go home rudely.
Is @visrane truly fit to serve as Goa’s Health Minister? His increasingly erratic and unstable behaviour raises serious concerns about his ability to responsibly oversee the state’s health system.
The shocking incident at Goa Medical College (GMC) where Vishwajit Rane chose to… pic.twitter.com/3qLrgJiCV8
— Goa Congress (@INCGoa) June 7, 2025
Even as there was a hue and cry over the minister’s dismissive behaviour, from Opposition party Congress, Indian Medical Association and netizens alike, Rane defended his decision, citing the doctor’s “arrogant behaviour” towards a patient.
Rane said he had taken the action after receiving a complaint from a senior journalist who pointed out that his mother-in-law was mistreated by the doctor in the casualty ward of GMCH.
The minister said he received a message from a family member of a senior citizen — who was suffering and had been advised to receive daily injections — about how she was refused the same at the hospital’s casualty ward on a public holiday.
“Yes, as the health minister, I did intervene, and I accept that my tone and words could have been more measured. I am not above reflection or criticism. I take full responsibility for how I communicated, and I assure you such an approach will not be repeated,” Rane told reporters.
He, however, was put in his place by his ‘boss’
