Abrupt transfer of Army’s base hospital chief raises eyebrows

NEW DELHI:  The Commandant of the Army’s Base Hospital Delhi Cantonment (BHDC) has been abruptly transferred and posted as an additional officer. An order signed on Monday, May 10, terms it as a ‘turnover posting’ with Major General Vasu Vardhan being transferred and posted as an additional officer with the Army Hospital (R&R) Delhi.

He will be replaced by Major General SK Singh who was Deputy Commandant of the Army Medical Corps Centre and College,  Lucknow. He will now take charge as the Commandant of Base Hospital Delhi Cantonment The transfer of the official, a respiratory medicine specialist, has raised eyebrows. Major General Vardhan was due to retire in about three months and the base hospital was converted into an exclusive Covid-19 care facility under him and was being upgraded to 1,000-bed facility.

He was handling the Covid battle in a dedicated manner and had returned to duty on the same day when he lost his mother a few days back. Army veterans had praised Vardhan’s dedication on various platforms.
The Army termed it as a routine posting as the officer completed 18 months tenure as the Commandant.
However, a source hinted at some other reason. “The transfer is attributed to a call from an influential person for some favour which the officer did not entertain.” said the source who didn’t want to be named. 

Upgradation going on
Major General Vardhan was behind converting the base hospital into an exclusive Covid care facility. It is currently being upgraded as a 1,000-bed facility