NEW DELHI: Around nine months after Dr Vatsala Aggarwal was appointed as the Director of Health Services (DHS), the Delhi government has ordered her transfer with immediate effect.
According to an office order issued by the Department of Health and Family Welfare on May 21, Dr Aggarwal has been placed under the “awaiting posting” status until further orders. In the interim, the medical superintendent of the Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital (JPCH) will look after the charge of the DHS, as per the existing link arrangements, the order stated.
The government has directed Dr Aggarwal to hand over the charge immediately to the officer concerned and submit a report accordingly. “Dr Vatsala Aggarwal is directed to hand over the charge immediately to the officer concerned and report accordingly,” the order mentioned.
The office order was issued by Sharat Kumar, Deputy Secretary (HR-Medical) in the Department of Health and Family Welfare of NCT-Delhi government, with the approval of Lieutenant-Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
Meanwhile, AAP leader Somnath Bharti claimed in a post on X that he had complained to the Delhi government’s chief secretary in June last year about irregularities involving Dr Vatsala, then Director General of Health Services, based on information provided by senior government officials.
Bharti said that even though an inquiry was subsequently initiated, he received no further updates. He claimed he later learnt that the Lieutenant Governor had removed Dr Vatsala after the alleged unearthing of a scam worth hundreds of crores in the Delhi Health Ministry.
Bharti further alleged that timely action on his complaint could have prevented the misuse of public funds and called for a thorough investigation to identify the “actual mastermind” behind the alleged scam.