After the students, it is now the faculty members at All-India Institute of Medical Sciences who have come out in support of former Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) Sanjiv Chaturvedi. He was removed from the post following a Union Health Ministry order on August 14.
Several faculty members under the banner of ‘Forum for Rights and Equality’ have noted that the official was removed “without the Ministry citing adequate reasons”.
“Since then, the Ministry has repeatedly stated in the media that the name of Mr. Chaturvedi was rejected by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on procedural grounds, and that some complaints have been lodged against him. However, these statements are contrary to facts. It is common knowledge that in the last two years Mr. Chaturvedi unearthed a string of corruption cases at AIIMS, and many enquiries including CBI enquires are being conducted against corrupt officials,” noted a release issued by the group.
They further noted that it (the rejection of Mr. Chaturvedi’s name) was not possible without the CVC being aware of Mr. Chaturvedi’s position as CVO of AIIMS. “In fact, Mr. Chaturvedi’s name was displayed on the CVC website as CVO of AIIMS,” noted a senior faculty member at AIIMS.
Stating that service rules suggest that prior approval of the CVC is required only in case of appointment of CVO of specific (commercial) organisations, he added: “AIIMS and a number of other autonomous educational and research organisations do not appear in that list; and the CVO to a number of autonomous institutions have been appointed without the prior approval of CVC as it is not mandatory.”
Meanwhile, a signature campaign among the faculty is underway. “We will be submitting this to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and request him to support integrity and honesty at AIIMS,” noted the release issued by the group of AIIMS faculty members.
The faculty members have also noted that the Ministry is disturbingly silent on the issue of complaints against Mr. Chaturvedi, despite requests in the media to bring them in the open.
“Reports show that over the two years at AIIMS, Mr. Chaturvedi located and acted upon several-large scale irregularities committed by high-level officials, including ex-deputy directors, ex-registrar, ex-chief administrative officer, senior engineers, faculty members, other employees of AIIMS and ‘favoured’ contractors,” said a senior faculty member.
He added that many of these cases (including some with the CBI) are in actionable stages, wherein responsibilities have to be fixed and punishments meted out.
“It appears that behind-the-scenes manipulations have led to the ‘shunting out’ of this upright officer. The real danger is in the manner of the ‘removal’. By stating that the officer was not eligible for the post, the Ministry has opened the door for all culprits likely to be indicted in various scams unearthed by Mr. Chaturvedi,” noted faculty members.
