Resident doctors of the Delhi AIIMS on Monday condemned the removal of Dr Kafeel Khan of Gorakhpur-based BRD Medical College Hospital, alleging that he had been made a “scapegoat” in the tragic incident in which over 60 children have died within a span of 6 days.

Khan, who was the nodal officer at the state-run hospital’s paediatric department, had been hailed as a hero after he reportedly bought oxygen cylinders with his own money during the crisis.

“With great pain we have to say that once again a doctor has been made a scapegoat for the infrastructural lapse and failure of the government,” President of the resident doctors association at AIIMS, Dr Harjit Singh Bhatti, said.

The association has written a letter condemning Khan’s removal and has also accused the Uttar Pradesh government of “gross neglect of public health.”

“If oxygen, gloves, surgical instruments and basic medicines are not available in the hospital, then who is responsible? According to the government, the doctor is responsible. I request politicians not to spoil this relationship between the patient and the doctor to hide their incompetency,” Bhatti said in the letter.