The nation’s premier medical institute may not have recovered from the bruising quota controversy but is now subject to another round of strong-arm political treatment.

Upset over three consecutive administrative changes in the institute that the Health Ministry ordered after he went on leave on June 3, AIIMS director P Venugopal cut short his vacation and returned to tell his faculty members, staff and students, that he will resign if ‘‘the dignity and autonomy’’ of the Institute is not maintained. He expressed displeasure over the ‘‘the undue interference in the institute.’’

The simmering tussle between the AIIMS director and Health Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss is almost two years old. According to sources, the AIIMS director and the Health Minister did not get along from the very beginning as Venugopal was seen as “a BJP-appointee”. Problems began with Ramadoss’s stay at the AIIMS guest house when he became Health Minister.

According to sources, Venugopal has sought an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tomorrow.

Sources said Venugopal was not happy with the Health Ministry’s appointment of Dr R C Deka as dean superceding Dr K S Reddy, head of Cardiology, and Dr T D Dogra, head of Forensic Medicine, as recommended by the search committee of the institute.

The problem took a different turn after the anti-reservation strike. The Health Ministry blamed the AIIMS administration for supporting the striking doctors.

Without taking names, Venugopal said, ‘‘During the last two years, there has been a systematic undermining of the institute and the authority of the director.’’

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