SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, March 16: Dhanbad Civil Surgeon (CS) Dr. Shyam Kishore Kant and Regional Deputy Director (RDD) health of North Chhotanagpur Division Hazaribagh Dr Gopal Das are face to face over the posting of a medical officer as the in-charge of the Tundi community health centre (CHC).
The CS had posted Dr Sarbjit Singh as the medical officer-in-charge of Tundi CHC in place of Dr Nilam Kumari. But RDD Dr Gopal Das has cancelled the deployment of Dr. Sarbjit Singh and continued Dr Nilam Kumari on the post with authorizing her the drawing and disbursing power.
However, officials of the district health department when contacted over the dispute said that the office has not received any letter from the RDD regarding the cancellation of Dr Sarbjit Singh’s deployment to date. “After getting the official letter of the RDD, further steps would be initiated,” said a senior official of the health department.
Dr Nilam is a 2012 batch medical officer and Dr Sarbjit Singh is the 2019 batch. Dr Nilam reportedly complained to the RDD saying that the civil surgeon had violated the state government’s regulation by posting junior over a senior. She also pointed out that Dr Sarbjit Singh does not have the drawing and disbursing power to head a CHC.
The RDD then conducted the probe of the allegation at his level and cancelled the order of Dr Shyam Kishore Kant (CS).
Dr Gopal Das (RDD) had been the civil surgeon of Dhanbad before Dr Shyam Kishore Kant.
The dispute also triggered a massive resentment among the senior medical officers of the district health department. A senior medical officer said that such things (deployment of junior over senior) had never happened in Dhanbad.
He said that earlier, the then deputy commissioner Umashankar Singh violated the seniority norms in the name of Corona Disaster Management in 2020 by deploying junior doctors on key posts and now the present civil surgeon is following him.
Sources said that senior doctors of the district have sent a memorandum to the deputy secretary of health of the state government for intervening in the matter.