Centre grants Rims director extn till Covid outbreak normalises

Ranchi: Dr D K Singh, director of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims) will continue to serve the state’s largest hospital till the Covid-19 situation normalises. The development comes after the Union health ministry accepted the state government’s request to provide Singh an extension till the situation normalises. He was slated to join AIIMS Bhatinda as the executive director.
According to highly placed sources in the health department, the Union ministry has given in-principle approval to the state government’s request on providing Singh an extension due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation in the state. Notably, Rims is the only tertiary care centre of the state to treat serious covid patients.
“We have been told by a joint secretary level official of the Union health ministry that Singh will continue to discharge his duties as director of Rims as per state government’s request in the wake of an outbreak of Covid-19,” a source said.
Singh was selected for the position of executive director of AIIMS Bhatinda by the appointments committee of the Union cabinet on March 12 and was set to join in July. Soon after his selection, Singh had written a letter to secretary, Union health ministry on April 3 accepting the offer, but also requested him to provide an extension citing the situation in Jharkhand.
In another letter to the state health department on April 7, Singh informed about his selection and subsequent acceptance of the offer and requested them to relieve him after the Covid-19 situation normalises in the state. Taking cognizance of his letter, the state health department communicated with the Union health ministry and requested an extension.
“As Rims is the lone tertiary care centre in the state to treat serious Covid-19 patients and with increasing positive cases of novel coronavirus, we request your approval to allow Dr Singh to discharge his services as Rims director until the outbreak slows down or normalises,” the letter sent by state health department to the Union health ministry read.
Singh said that he hasn’t received any letter from the ministry or the state government on the issue and he will not be able to comment before he receives an official communication.