SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad Feb 9: The Jharkhand High Court has put an immediate stay on any type of punitive action by the health department against Bokaro Civil Surgeon Dr. Jitendra Kumar Singh till further order.
The bench of Justice SN Pathak while hearing the petition of Bokaro civil surgeon (CS) Dr. Jitendra Kumar Singh also directed the state health department to stay the demotion of Dr. Singh and provide him equivalent seniority post till the final verdict.
The health department had transferred Dr. Jitendra Kumar Singh to the Koderma district as a medical officer on January 24. The post of civil surgeon is considered three ranks higher than a simple medical officer in the health department. Transfer to the post of a medical officer from the civil surgeon is considered as a demotion of a person.
As per the High Court’s order, Dr. Singh should be given his equivalent post. The final verdict on Dr. Jitendra Singh’s petition against the health department order would be delivered on February 15.
“Though in the health department’s transfer order, I was given the additional charge of Additional Chief Medical Officer (ACMO) post of Koderma also, but an officer was already posted there. So I challenged the order of the health department in the High Court,” said Dr. Singh.
Sources in the health department said that Dr. Singh was transferred in the wake of mismanagement in the care of Covid patients at the district hospital. Both Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Health Minister Banna Gupta had taken cognizance of Covid patients’ complaints and had directed the Deputy Commissioner (DC), Kuldeep Choudhary, to probe the allegation.
Unofficial sources said that CS Dr. Jitendra Kumar Singh had a bad relationship with DC Kuldeep Choudhary who time and again expressed his resentment over the working style of the CS in checking Covid infection.
