Renu Bhatia quits as Haryana women’s panel chief amid nursing staff protests

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Haryana State Commission for Women chairperson Renu Bhatia resigned late on Wednesday evening in the wake of protests by nursing officers across the State during the day against her alleged derogatory remarks against the nursing staff at the Civil Hospital in Kurukshetra.

In a letter to the Chief Minister, Ms. Bhatia, without assigning any reasons for her resignation, said she had served as the commission’s chairperson for over four years with honesty and dedication and would continue to fight for the rights and the dignity of the women.

Ms. Bhatia had made the alleged remarks during her official inspection at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Civil Hospital in Kurukshetra on June 7, where she was reviewing the case of an alleged rape of a 15-year-old minor girl by a doctor. She had reprimanded the hospital administration and nursing staff for security lapses that left the minor unattended.

Seeking her resignation, the Nursing Officers Welfare Association Haryana had threatened to hold a second two-hour pen-down strike with complete suspension of services on June 10 and go on a full-scale strike on June 11, halting even emergency services Statewide, if their demands were not met.

Ms. Bhatia’s tenure, however, was marked by several controversies including the registration of the case against Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad over his social media posts on “Operation Sindoor”. It had sparked intense national scrutiny and academic outcry when she filed a police complaint against the professor at Sonipat in Haryana leading to his arrest. Ms. Bhatia had claimed that his posts had insulted the modesty of women in the armed forces and threatened national integrity.

Recently, she had rejected a public apology issued by Bollywood rapper Badshah over objectionable lyrics in his song “Tettiri”, summoning him and vowing to crack down on anyone making offensive content.