UDUPI: A case has been booked against Byndoor MLA B M Sukumar Shetty and 12 others under SC/ST Act for allegedly abusing and unnecessarily transferring one Dr Veena Narayana Shiruru who is a dentist at a community health center in Byndoor to a hospital in Ankola.
As per the complaint registered, MLA Sukumar Shetty allegedly put pressure on authorities to transfer Dr Veena to a Government Hospital in Ankola in Uttara Kannada district to accommodate Dr Vathsala Goni, in her place as the latter worked as a dentist there.
The MLA allegedly wrote a letter to the Chief Minister recommending Dr Veena’s transfer to Ankola. It is said this was done at the behest of Nagaraj Kharvi, husband of Dr Vathsala, who worked in a veterinary hospital in Byndoor. Nagaraj, one of the suspects, wanted his wife Dr Vathsala to be working in Byndoor, so he allegedly approached the MLA to do a favour. It is alleged Nagaraj also took the help of 10 other local people from Byndoor whom he made write a letter to CM making false allegations against Dr Veena and seeking her transfer.
Dr Veena alleged that the complaint against her was given to the CM directly instead of giving to her superior, a norm followed generally. ‘‘When my father on October 4, 2019, queried with the superior officers in the health department in Udupi whether there were any complaints/allegations against his daughter from the public, the officials in the health department responded in the negative." Despite this, succumbing to pressure from MLA, the health department’s undersecretary on August 31, 2020, transferred Dr Veena to Dr Vathsala’s place, while Dr Vathsala was posted in Byndoor as per her husband’s request with the MLA. In her complaint, Dr Veena also alleged that when she met the MLA with her grievance, the latter did not pay heed and allegedly threatened her not to meet him again. MLA also allegedly made caste-based remarks against Dr Veena.