Ranchi: The 49th governing body meeting of the state’s largest hospital Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims) held on October 14 after a gap of 13 months is mired in controversy, minutes of the meeting revealed.
According to the minutes, a copy of which is read by TOI, said a governing body member who attended the meeting was not marked present, while a representative of a member was allowed despite strict instructions against it by chairperson and state health minister Banna Gupta. Following Gupta’s orders, another representative was disallowed from attending the meeting.
Talking to TOI, Gupta said, “As per Rims regulations, no representative can attend the meeting and if someone has attended or his name has appeared in the list of those present, then it is a matter of investigation.”
However, the minutes of the meeting showed the attendance of Nagendra Chaudhary, who represented member and state finance secretary while BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo representing University of Ranchi vice-chancellor was disallowed. Moreover, the minutes did not reflect the attendance of noted surgeon and a sitting member of the general body Dr R P Srivastava. Dr Srivastava was appointed by the state government as a technical expert and had attended the meeting. During the meeting, he had raised several issues, which were duly noted by the minister and other members, Dr Srivastava said.
Reacting strongly to the development, Shahdeo said: “I wasn’t allowed to take part in the meeting on the directions of the health minister citing Rims regulations. He must now clarify why another representative was allowed. This shows that the minister is trying to the bend rules as per his convenience and want to hide the irregularities and corrupt practices going on at Rims.”
He added, "It seems that the minister is scared of what I could expose like buying of a luxury car from the hospital’s funds. I will take this matter to the court.”
Meanwhile, Dr Srivastava said: “I haven’t received a copy of the minutes so I do not know but if this is true, then the Rims administration must introspect and the acting director should refresh her memory to find out whether I was present during the meeting or not.”
Rims acting director Dr Manju Gandi is not available for her comments on the matter.