Medicos, staff protest bomb threat in Imphal medical institute

Imphal: Medical students and employees of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Imphal, on Wednesday staged a sit-in protest against the lobbing of a Chinese-made hand grenade at the Out Patient Department two days ago.
Contending that medical institutions should not be targeted by insurgents in their violent campaign, the protestors said such attacks disturbed the quiet environs of the hospital.
H. Tampha, president of the RIMS Nurses Association, said the house and quarters of medical superintendent M. Amuba have been attacked at least thrice.
In a statement, Akom Lup, a non-governmental organisation, said that in view of the charges of corruptions against the RIMS top brass, the popular belief was that they were getting what they deserved.
But, claiming that the hospital’s environment is disturbed by such acts of violence, the RIMS employees, led by S. Rita, the director in charge, have been staging protests for quite some time asserting that attacks on hospitals were against civil norms.
The insurgents responsible for the attacks, however, say that the institute employees should do some soul-searching before criticising the attacks.
Owning responsibility for the latest bomb attack, the Kangleipak Communist Party (Military Joint Committee) said this was the last warning to institute director Rita, deputy director Y. Rajendra, and Dr M. Amuba, medical superintendent. The insurgents have been levelling serious charges of corruptions against the senior officials in the institute.
For over two years, there has been no regular director in RIMS that was established in 1972 for providing medical education to the students of the northeastern states, excluding Assam.
Officials declined to explain why no regular director was appointed for two years.
In a stop-gap measure, the union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued an order on Tuesday appointing Chongtham Arunkumar as director in charge for two months. (IANS)