Punjab Governor and the Chancellor of Universities in the State Banwari Lal Purohit on Tuesday appointed Prof (Dr) Rajeev Sood as the Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot. Dr Sood has been appointed for a period of three years, with effect from the date of his assumption of office.
 
The appointment came just over 10 months after a noted spinal surgeon Dr Raj Bahadur had resigned on July 29, last year, as the BFUHS VC following ‘misbehaviour’ by the then Health Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra during the latter’s visit to the varsity’s hospital. Jouramajra had asked Bahadur to lie down on a dirty mattress in the hospital — an incident that sparked a political row after its video had gone viral.
 
Even as the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had made attempts to placate Dr Bahadur, the medico refused to withdraw his resignation stating that he “felt humiliated”. Later, Mann also removed Jouramajra from the Health Department, appointing Dr Balbir Singh as his successor. Since then, the university has been without a VC.
 
Later, the State Government had selected Dr GS Wander, the founder of Ludhiana’s Hero Heart Institute, to be appointed as Baba Farid’s. However, the Governor turned down the State Government’s proposal pointing out that it has failed to send a panel of three candidates, of which he had to select one name.
 
Govt sent 5-member panel

Months after the Punjab Governor had refused to give his approval to Dr Wander’s name as Baba Farid’s vice-chancellor in the absence of a panel, the State Government has, this time, sent a panel of five candidates.  The panel includes the names of Dr Rakesh Sehgal from PGIMER’s nuclear medicine department; Rajindra Medical College, Patiala’s former professor Prof Baljinder Singh; former professor and GMCH-32’s Microbiology Department’s head Dr KK Aggarwal; Professor Jagdish Chander, and Dr Rajeev Sood from Delhi. The Governor approved the name of Dr Sood, after interviewing all the five experts.
 
Dr Sood, with an extensive experience spanning 40 years in Medical Practice, also has a rich administrative experience in various capacities. His teaching experience includes 26 years Post MCh and 12 years as Professor.