Prime Minister should intervene and get Sanjeev reinstated AIIMS is riddled with corruption, especially by its seniormost officials. Two years back, an honest and very pro-active officer, Sanjeev Chaturvedi, was posted as Chief Vigilance Officer. Now, it became difficult for these seniors to indulge in corruption. Sanjeev started acting swiftly against corruption. Very powerful people involved. These powerful people, through their political connections, made several attempts to get him removed. But all these attempts proved unsuccessful, till BJP came to power. After coming to power, the first action that BJP took on corruption front was to remove this anti-corruption crusader from this post. Interestingly, BJP came to power because people were fed up of scam tainted UPA government. BJP repeatedly promised that it would remove corruption. This action of BJP government is completely contrary to what they promised. What was the immediate provocation that led to removal of Sanjeev Chaturvedi? The following 2 incidents seem to have led to his immediate removal: Medical Council of India (MCI) accords recognition to private medical colleges. Some private medical colleges are notorious for having inadequate infrastructure and faculty, thus compromising with the quality of medical education imparted in these institutes. In order to ensure proper quality of education and compliance of its guidelines, MCI sends doctors to inspect these colleges. MCI found that these inspectors often accepted lavish hospitality of inspected colleges, which could influence their reports. Therefore, MCI has issued detailed and strict guidelines to all inspectors not to entertain the hospitality of inspected college under any circumstances. Dr A. C. Ammini, Prof and Head of Endo department of AIIMS, was sent by MCI to inspect Vinayaka Missions Medical College and Hospital, Karaikal. She is accused of having accepted lodging, boarding and other hospitality from the inspected college. The case is so water tight that the expenses made by the said college on Dr Ammini are booked in their cash book directly in her name. CBI recommended major penalty proceedings against Dr Ammini. MCI also recommended major penalty proceedings. Letter from MCI is annexed as Annexure 1. Accordingly, Sanjeev Chaturvedi recommended imposition of major penalty. However, the then Health Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, reduced it to minor penalty. But now, the present Health Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan, has completely exonerated her and even withdrawn the minor penalty. Copy of Dr Harsh Vardhan’s file noting is annexed as Annexure 2. If Dr Harsh Vardhan were honest and committed against corruption, he should have overruled his predecessor’s decision to reduce penalty. Dr Harsh Vardhan should have concurred with the views of CBI, MCI and CVO and imposed a major penalty. On the contrary, he completely dropped the proceedings against the accused officer. Who is Dr Ammini? Why did Dr Harsh Vardhan go out of his way to help Dr Ammini? Because Dr Ammini has been treating Mrs Sushma Swaraj for her diabetes for the last few years and is very well known to her. This shows malafide intentions on the part of Dr Harsh Vardhan. He has supported a corrupt officer for extraneous reasons. Though this may not be the prime reason for removal of Sanjeev Chaturvedi, however, this incident raises questions about Dr Harsh Vardhan’s integrity. The prime reason for immediate removal of Sanjeev Chaturvedi was J P Nadda, who is Rajya Sabha member of BJP from Himachal Pradesh. He is a very senior and powerful BJP leader. He has been appointed as General Secretary in the new BJP hierarchy. Vineet Chawdhry is the link between Sanjeev Chaturvedi and J P Nadda. Vineet is a Himachal Pradesh officer and was earlier the DDA in AIIMS. Vineet is extremely close to Nadda. Here were several allegations of corruption against Vineet. Sanjeev started taking actions against Vineet. Finally, CBI registered cases of corruption against Vineet. This annoyed J P Nadda to no extent. Nadda started making complaints against Sanjeev. Fundamentally, Nadda’s complaint against Sanjeev was that procedures had been violated in appointing Sanjeev as CVO. Nadda’s complaint was examined by Health ministry many times and was rejected. It was examined and rejected as late as on 23rd May 2014, just 5 days before the present BJP government was sworn in. On 23rd May, Health ministry closed Nadda’s complaint and noted that Sanjeev’s appointment was in order. Copy of Health ministry’s file noting dated 23rd May is annexed as Annexure 3. When Nadda’s complaint was examined and closed on 23rd May, then what changed in the two months between then and now? No new facts have come on record. Sanjeev has been removed citing the same complaint, which was closed two months back. This indicates malafide on the part of the Health Minister. Absence of CVC’s clearance is being cited as the reason for removing Sanjeev: CVC did raise an objection on this issue earlier. However, the same was replied to by Health Ministry. A copy of file noting is annexed as Annexure 4. Interestingly, CVC’s approval was not obtained for any of Sanjeev’s predecessors. But CVC never objected in any of the earlier cases. For instance, Vineet was the CVO before Sanjeev. However, CVC’s approval was not obtained in Vineet’s case. Neither did CVC object to it. Because Sanjeev challenged the most powerful interests in AIIMS, everyone pounced upon him. Also, the fact that CVC has put Sanjeev’s name on its website and has been accepting Sanjeev’s reports in many vigilance cases, shows that Sanjeev’s appointment has since been accepted by the CVC. But why did Dr Harsh Vardhan remove Sanjeev now, when that issue had been settled long ago? Did CVC raise an objection now? No. This shows that CVC’s approval is merely being used as an excuse by the minister to remove Sanjeev whereas the real motives of the minister are different. CVC’s approval is merely a formality. Sanjeev’s work has been appreciated by everyone, including the Parliamentary Standing Committee. If CVC’s approval was really an issue, the minister could have approached the CVC and obtained the same, rather than removing the officer. Dr Harsh Vardhan’s haste only in this case raises questions: Annexed as Annexure 5 is a complaint to Dr Harsh Vardhan against a Joint Secretary in Ministry of Health. The complaint was made on 24.7.2014. Complaint relates to wrongdoings and irregularities in the 6 new AIIMS, which are being constructed. Dr Harsh Vardhan has not taken any action on this complaint but has acted with extra-ordinary speed in removing Sanjeev. Sanjeev’s removal constitutes breach of privilege of Parliament: Union Health Secretary had given a specific commitment to Parliamentary Standing Committee on 8.6.2012 that Sanjeev Chaturvedi would be posted as CVO in AIIMS and he was thus posted. Under influence of some powerful vested interests, there were attempts to remove Sanjeev from this post within a few months of his posting. The Parliamentary Standing Committee Chairperson took umbrage and sought to know why it should not be treated as breach of privilege of Parliament. The Government immediately withdrew its proposal to remove him then. Now, did Dr Harsh Vardhan inform or take permission from the Parliamentary Standing Committee? No. Has Dr Harsh Vardhan committed breach of privilege? Also, the PMO had written on 23.11.2012 to the Cabinet Secretary that Cabinet Secretary should satisfy himself before removing Sanjeev Chaturvedi and keep PMO informed. This direction has also been violated by the present Health Minister (copy annexed as Annexure 6). Impact of Sanjeev’s removal: All cases against Vineet Chawdhry would be withdrawn. Due to cases against Vineet, he cannot become Chief Secretary. Once all these cases are withdrawn, the path would be cleared for him. All cases of corruption involving powerful vested interests, which were being pursued by Sanjeev, would be closed. A clear message would go to all officers that they should succumb to pressures from BJP bosses or else, they would be shown the door. We demand: Sanjeev Chaturvedi should be reinstated back immediately CBI should investigate on this entire episode of Sanjeev’s removal Dr Harsh Vardhan should either resign or he should be removed. Appeal to the Prime Minister: On many occasions, the Prime Minister has expressed his resolve to root out corruption. We are sure that he means it. This is the first case of corruption that has come to light since he took over. If he acts swiftly and strongly in this case, the entire country and officialdom would get clear signals that corruption would not be tolerated anymore. However, any delay or weakness on his part would create doubts in the minds of the people whether the Prime Minister actually means what he says. (Annexure 7 contains details of some of the corruption cases dealt by Sanjeev Chaturvedi) aamaadmiparty.org/is-bjp-really-committed-to-removing-corruption
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 09:57:29 +0000
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