Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been forced into damage control mode following a spurt in Covid-19 cases and growing disenchantment in the state over the lack of medical facilities and non-availability of doctors.

Two days after he lashed out at principal secretary of the health department Uday Singh Kumawat in a cabinet meeting, Nitish Monday transferred the officer to the state planning board, which successive regimes have used to dump IAS officers they do not like.

In his place, the chief minister appointed the 1991-batch IAS officer Amrit Prataya, who has a stellar reputation in Bihar’s civil service circles and has held top posts in all governments.

The chief minister was forced to implement the transfer as the Covid-19 situation deteriorated in Bihar, with sources telling ThePrint that there is no coordination between top civil servants in the health department.

“Kumawat was not even on talking terms with the secretary of the department, Lokesh Singh,” said an official in the health department. “It became very difficult for files to move and to monitor the situation. There are five directors of health. Not a single of them were given responsibility for Covid.”

All of this, the officer said, had led to the situation unravelling rapidly in the last two months. Around 2,100 cases were reported Monday, taking Bihar’s total to 41,000 cases. Bihar currently has one of the highest positivity rates in the country and conducts the lowest number of tests per million.

“The health department has not even set up a protocol for treatment of Covid patients in that there are no guidelines on how to treat mildly infected patients, and what to do with the serious ones,” the health ministry official said.

“In dedicated Covid hospitals, there are ridiculous rules that patients hailing from one district will have to go to a specified hospital in Patna. There have been reports of patients not being admitted. The health department does not have a database on the medicines used on patients recovered.”

The official further pointed out other lapses.

“There is complete confusion over disposal of bodies; there are reports of them left lying for two days,” the official said. “Several of the staff engaged in testing have found themselves positive, suggesting that either the staff did not have proper safety kits or there are lapses during conducting a test. For the last two months the health department has failed to respond to these problems.”

A proven track record

Beset by such problems, Kumar has turned to IAS officer Amrit Prataya, who has a track record of delivering and performing. Informed sources told ThePrint that the chief minister telephoned Prataya to say that he expected results.

“I am conscious of the expectations of the people and the government. I will start off from Tuesday,” Prataya told ThePrint. “I am a person who believes in teamwork. I will be looking to build up a team. I know that because of the Covid situation the time I have is very short. The first thing that needs to be done is trying to remove the fear among people,” he added.

Prataya has had a dream run in Bihar’s civil service.

Even during the Lalu-Rabri regime, he was the district magistrate of five important districts as he hails from Gopalganj district, the native district of both Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi.

But his connections with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are equally strong. He was secretary to BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy when the latter was the Union aviation minister.

Under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Prataya has been handed key posts such as handling road construction and the power department, where he was tasked with revamping the age-old transmission wires.

“The work would have normally taken three years but Amrit completed it in one year and today one will see 20-hour power supply even in the villages of Bihar,” said an official of the electricity department.

As MD of Bihar Bridge Construction Corporation, he transformed a virtually defunct organisation into a profit-making corporation. In 2011, he was picked for the Prime Minister’s Excellence Award for Public Administration.

Officials who have worked under him say Prataya believes in involving everyone in the department.

“He even threw parties for grade IV employees and their families. He backs officials who perform to the hilt and he is equally ruthless on non-performers,” remarked an engineer in the road construction department.

It’s not surprising that his appointment to the health department is now being hailed in the state.

“Amrit Prataya is a doer and delivers. He makes quick decisions and does not leave anything pending,” former Bihar chief secretary V.S. Dubey told ThePrint. “The government has done the right thing by making him the head of the health and disaster management portfolios. Both departments have a key role to play in the fight against Covid-19.”

Officials are wondering why the chief minister didn’t place Patraya in the health department when he removed former principal secretary Sanjay Kumar in May. “Nitish did not want to remove Prataya from the power department as he feared that it would slide if he was removed. But given the situation of Covid-19, Nitish has no other alternative but to fall back on Prataya,” remarked a senior official.

While a section of officers question Prataya’s integrity and pliability, none question him as a performer. The question being asked now is if he can effect a quick turnaround in the state’s Covid situation to salvage the dented image of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram