INDIANAMERICAN TOP DOCTOR VIVEK MURTHY FIRED BY TRUMP

WASHINGTON:US surgeon general Vivek Murthy, who was dismissed on Friday by the Donald Trump administration, has said being picked for the job was a “uniquely American story” for the “grandson of a poor farmer from India”.

Murthy was named America’s top doctor by President Barack Obama in 2014, making him the first Indian American chosen for the post, one among many growing achievements of a tiny but economically powerful ethnic community.

The US health and human services said in a statement on Friday he had been asked “to resign from his duties as surgeon general after assisting in a smooth transition into the new Trump Administration … (and stood) relieved of his duties”.

Rear Admiral Sylvia TrentAdams, a nurse by training and deputy surgeon general, was named to serve as the acting surgeon general and assume leadership of the US public health service commissioned corps.

In a post on Facebook, Murthy said. “For the grandson of a poor farmer from India to be asked by the President to look out for the health of an entire nation was a humbling and uniquely American story.”

“I will always be grateful to our country for welcoming my immigrant family nearly 40 years ago and giving me this opportunity to serve,” he added.

It wasn’t clear if the reference to his family arriving as immigrants was an indirect swipe at the Trump administration that has seemed to be both riding and stoking a wave of anti-immigrant feelings in the country.