THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A Health Department probe on TV Prashanthan, an electrician of Pariyaram Government Medical College who raised a bribery allegation against the late Additional District Magistrate Naveen Babu, violated service rules by venturing into the fuel outlet business.
The report prepared by Additional Chief Secretary Rajan Khobragade found that Prashanthan did not seek permission from medical college authorities before seeking NoC for the fuel outlet. He is on the list of employees who have applied for regularisation in government service and the service rules are applicable for them.
The department is likely to dismiss Prashanthan from service based on the report after seeking legal opinion. Earlier Health Minister Veena George said that Prashanthan’s service would be terminated before despatching the senior most officer to Pariyaram for a probe. She made the decision as the report submitted by the college principal to the Director of Medical Education was not satisfactory.
Prashanthan was recruited by the cooperative society which owned the hospital which was later taken over by the government. The electrician remained absent from his duties at the Medical College after the suicide of Naveen Babu became a controversy. Prashanthan alleged that Naveen Babu had asked for a bribe of Rs 1 lakh for issuing NoC for the fuel station, and he had given Rs 98,500 at the latter’s quarters.