Rims director removed after ‘spat with Banna’

Ranchi: Less than a fortnight after Dr D K Singh, director of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims), was granted an extension by the Centre “till the Covid situation becomes better” following requests from the state government, he was relieved from his duties late on Tuesday evening. The hospital is the only tertiary care centre for Covid-19 in the state.
Many in the institute believe the removal is the result of the fallout Singh had a with state health minister Banna Gupta, who stopped all tenders, appointments and promotions at Rims without convening a governing body meeting. Rims’ governing body is the highest authority of the hospital and the minister’s order was in contravention of norms, a move strongly objected by Singh.
Health department sources said chief minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday night gave his assent to relieve Singh and an order will be issued in two days.
A senior bureaucrat said, “The CM has given his assent to relieve Singh as per the recommendations of the health minister and has directed to place an advertisement for the recruitment of a regular director at the earliest. The hospital has also been asked to put the senior-most faculty at the helm of affairs till a fresh appointment is made. An official order will be issued after the formalities are over,” said of the state government who is in the know of things.
Sources at Rims said a lobby of doctors working against Singh for his action against private practice is believed to have convinced Banna to initiate the step. “Singh was against private practice by Rims doctors and had taken action against a couple of influential medicos. That group wants him out of the institution,” said an associate professor of Rims.
Notably, Banna had recommended Singh’s removal on April 28 citing “unsatisfactory work” during the pandemic to chief minister Hemant Soren after Singh had written a letter on March 12 informing the state government about his selection as an executive director at AIIMS Bhatinda. As per sources, Banna had recommended that the file be tabled before Hemant for a final decision.
However, opposition parties and the Rims governing body members took strong exception to the development and criticized the state government’s decision to remove Singh.
Talking to TOI, vice-president of the state unit of BJP, Pradeep Verma, said, “The Hemant government has bowed down to the pressure of its ally Congress and that is why they have decided to relieve Dr Singh amid the outbreak of Covid-19. This shows how serious the government is in the fight against the virus. If Singh was a good official till yesterday in the eyes of the chief minister, then how did he became a culprit overnight?” asked Verma.
Attacking Banna, Verma said, “Side lining rules and regulations, the health minister had directed the director to put on hold on all kinds of work at the state’s premier hospital and after he failed in that attempt, he pressurised the government to relieve a dedicated administrator of his duties.”
Interestingly, the state government had requested the Centre to allow Singh to discharge his duties till the Covid situation becomes betters in the state. Meanwhile, till Tuesday, Jharkhand recorded 2,193 coronavirus cases with 713 still active.