File photo: All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.
About 250 faculty members, researchers, and scientists at AIIMS have written to the Prime Minister requesting him to reinstate Ramon Magsaysay award winner Sanjiv Chaturvedi to the post of Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) at the institute.
In the letter to Narendra Modi, the signatories have claimed that the justifications given by the Health Ministry for removing Mr Chaturvedi from CVO's post are contrary to facts.
The signatories have also emphasised that Health Ministry has deliberately misled the Prime Minister by concealing many facts and demanded action against the Health Secretary for doing so.
The ministry had said that Mr Chaturvedi was rejected by the CVC on procedural grounds and complaints were lodged against him.
"It is a common knowledge that in the last two years Chaturvedi unearthed a string of corruption cases at AIIMS that led to inquiries (including by CBI) against corrupt officials.
"This will not have been possible without the CVC being aware of Mr Chaturvedi's position as CVO, AIIMS and conducting routine transactions with him as CVO," the letter said.
The letter also raised questions about prior approval of the CVC in the case of AIIMS CVO.
"Further, perusal of service rules suggests that prior approval of the CVC is required only in case of appointment of CVO of specific (commercial) organisations. AIIMS and a number of other autonomous educational and research organisations do not appear in that list; and the CVO of a number of autonomous institutions have been appointed without the prior approval of CVC as such approval is not mandatory," the letter says.
Stating that Mr Chaturvedi is an officer with high values and appointment is valid and that the action of striping him off the CVO charge at AIIMS is malafide, the signatories requested the Prime Minister to uphold integrity and values at AIIMS and cancel the order removing Mr Chaturvedi as the CVO.
"We would also like to request you for an inquiry into the fact that he has been removed of his CVO charge without any information to the CVC.
"The culprits behind this illegal act should be tried and punished. In particular, the Health Secretary should be asked to explain the fact and circumstances that led him to conceal important details of the case from your good office," the letter said.