PATNA: The Bihar chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA) has called for the removal of Uday Singh Kumawat, the principal secretary of health department and reinstate Sanjay Kumar, whose replacement had taken everyone in the state by utter surprise.
The association has sent a letter to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in this regard.
Dr Sunil Kumar, honorary general secretary of Bihar IMA said that Kumawat's behaviour towards the doctors is indifferent and the decisions taken by him have infuriated the medical fraternity.
Lauding the performances of former principal secretary Sanjay Kumar, a tough and upright IAS officer, the IMA demanded that Kumar be re-appointed to the post as he was very sensitive towards doctors
The IMA has also requested the removal of the district magistrates of Bhojpur and Gopalganj complaining that the behaviour of both the IAS officers has been insensitive towards doctors and other medical personnel.
It must be noted that during the last cabinet minister, the state health minister Mangal Pandey had brought Kumawat's arbitrary nature to CM Nitish Kumar's attention.
Following this, Kumar had reprimanded Kumawat and ordered him to increased the testing capacity of RTPCR to 20000 per day in Bihar. "If it is not achieved, government will think of taking action on you," Kumar had reportedly said.
It is not just the IMA or the health minister but even the public has been demanding the reinstement of Sanjay Kumar as the principal secretary of state health department to control the situation.
Kumar was removed abruptly about two months ago and made Principal Secretary of Tourism Department at a time when he was marvelously doing the best in the department. Apart from updating the status of COVID-19, he was approachable at any given time to everyone in the state.
He was available on Twitter during his tenure as principal secretary and took cognizance of several public complaints. His updates on the virus were transparent and elaborate enough with no room for doubt to anyone, be it in public or political domain. Kumawat, on the other hand, has no social media presence and does not speak to anyone in media.