CHANDIGARH: Hectic lobbying has started for the post of Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences as the term of the present Vice-Chancellor Dr Ravinder Singh is due to expire in the next few months.

Dr Ravinder Singh was handpicked by former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh for this coveted post. He was appointed vice-chancellor after he had demitted office as Director of Research
and Medical Education.

According to well informed sources in the Medical EducationDepartment, Dr Ravinder Singh has started hectic lobbying for an extension and he has sought the help of some senior Akali Dal leaders
of the State. Hailing from Patiala, where he worked as Principal of the Government Medical College, Dr Ravinder Singh managed to hold key assignments during the Congress rule.

He held three assignments at one time, that of DRME, Punjab, Principal of the Government Medical College at Patiala , and head of the surgery department at the Government Medical College and Government Rajindra Hospital at Patiala.

After his retirement from the post of DRME his wife, Dr Kiranjit Kaur became the principal of the Government Medical College at Patiala. She also holds the distinction of having held three simultaneous
assignments at one time, that of DRME, principal of the Government Medical College at Patiala, and head of the department of biochemistry in the Government Medical College at Patiala.

Dr Ravinder Singh has all along courted controversies. He was at the forefront when the alumni association of the Government Medical College held its annual conference with Capt Amarinder Singh as the chief guest. He became the life president of the association, a post that he continues to hold even today.

However, the ambitious project of the alumni association to build a trauma centre at the Government Medical College and Government Rajindra Hospital at Patiala remains a
distant dream.

Baba Farid University of Health Sciences was established under an Act passed by the Legislature of the State of Punjab in July, 1998.