MP rejig a stopgap move, top health officials in isolation

Madhya Pradesh,National,Health/Medicine

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Bhopal, April 8 (IANS) The Madhya Pradesh government finally rejigged the Health Department on Tuesday night, bringing Additional Chief Secretary Mohd Suleiman as the Commissioner (health) and appointing former Bhopal Collector Sudam Khade as the Director (health). From all indications, it seems to be a stopgap arrangement.

The rejig follows the isolation of Principal Secretary (health) Pallavi Jain-Govil and removal of Prateek Hajela as the Director (health).

Suleiman will continue to hold the charge of Energy, Planning and Economics and Statistics Departments, and Khade a the Managing Director of the State Road Development Corporation and CEO of the Inter-state Transport Authority.

Incidentally, Khade is also under isolation for coronavirus.

While the number of Covid-19 cases has been rising alarmingly, questions were raised over the officials attending meetings with the Chief Minister in the war room.

On Tuesday, the Chief Minister had gone to the extent saying people hiding coronavirus infection could even face case for culpable homicide.

However, can the government act against officials who have been breaking the coronavirus protocol with impunity? The department responsible tackling Covid-19 has become its carrier with 40 employees testing positive.

Even the Human Rights Commission has served a notice to Chief Secretary Iqbal Sigh Bains as how officials, like Jain-Govil and Vijay Kumar, got away without even a rap on the knuckles for hiding their infection, travel and contact history.

Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, who held the Health Department's charge till Tuesday night, and had gone for self-isolation, said the travel and contact history of most health staff was being traced.

Jain-Govil, a 1994 batch IAS officer, and Veena Sinha, Additional Director (health), have tested Covid-19 positive.

The state government is likely to shunt out both Jain-Govil and IAS Vijay Kumar, Managing Director of Ayushman Bharat that is involved in purchase of all equipment to deal with the corona crisis. Kumar has been allowed to function despite testing positive.

According to Health department sources, 33 people, including the Principal Secretary, the Deputy Secretary and the Deputy Director (health) have been referred to different hospitals. Five of them were forced to be admitted to hospitals.

Top bureaucrats who have finally quarantined themselves inluded Nishant Barwade, S. Dhanaraju, Sudam P. Khade. Their families have been quarantined at home. Prateek Hajela is also staying at home. Chief Secretary Bains has also quarantined himself.

Right to Information activist Ajay Dubey has sought to know why FIR could not be filed against the officials who misled the government about their health status or about relatives arriving from abroad.

Dubey has requested the Chief Minister to act against officials who have been hiding their travel and contact history.

Jain-Govil is facing a barrage of queries over hiding the information about her son's return from the US on March 16. She said when her son arrived from the US, it was not among the 12 nations notified by the government for restrictions, and he remained in isolation till March 30.

Jain-Govil said her family had undergone mandatory tests and despite being tested positive, she was fit to perform her duties. Some of the staff who have been meeting her for preparing daily health bulletins have not been screened for the virus.

Son of Veena Sinha, tested Covid-19 positive, had arrived from the US after the Covid-19 outbreak. Deputy Director of Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme Pramod Goyal had travelled to Indore, the coronavirus hotspot in the state. He also tested Covid-19 positive.

--IANS

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