Vyapam scam whistleblower Dr Anand Rai dismissed from state government service

When contacted by TNIE on Monday over his dismissal from service by the state government, Dr Rai said he would challenge the order of his dismissal from government service before the MP High Court.
Vyapam whistleblower Anand Rai (Photo | PTI)
Vyapam whistleblower Anand Rai (Photo | PTI)

BHOPAL: Dr Anand Rai, one of the three whistleblowers of the multi-layered Vyapam scam and suspended medical officer of the Madhya Pradesh government has been dismissed from service by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, a government notification said on Monday.

As per the notification issued by the state health department, Dr Rai, has been dismissed from service under the provisions of Civil Services Rules for not complying with official orders, being regularly absent from duty and also painting government welfare schemes in “bad light.”  

As per the department order, posted in Indore, Dr Rai was tasked with inspecting four health care facilities in Indore – civil dispensary (Residency), Hukumchand Hospital, PC Sethi Hospital and civil dispensary in Vrindavan Colony – on March 29 and March 30, 2022. Though he didn’t go for the inspection, his attendance was marked in the attendance register.

As per the official notification released on Monday, during an enquiry, it was found that he (Rai) had reported for duty only 18 days, from February 15 to March 15, 2022, but the casual leave forms were not submitted for the remaining days.

The notification read that Rai submitted a casual leave application on March 29, 2022. The civil surgeon at the Hukumchand Hospital (where he was posted as PGMO-Ophthalmology) subsequently asked him to appear before a special medical board on the same day between 5 pm and 7 pm, but Rai didn’t turn up.

Further, the notice mentions that Rai has been making comments on social media, painting the government welfare schemes in a bad light. Importantly, Dr Rai has been under suspension in the above matters, pending departmental enquiry.

For long Dr Rai has been regularly kicking up controversy through his statements against the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, particularly over social media.

Dr Rai, who is associated with the tribal outfit Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti (JAYS), recently made a social media post, claiming that ex-MP minister and former BJP MLA Ranjana Baghel will support JAYS in the next assembly polls. This had infuriated Baghel, who had even reached Rai’s residence in Bhopal and threatened legal action against him.

In April 2022, Rai was arrested by Bhopal Police Crime Branch from a hotel in Delhi on the complaint by the MP CM’s officer on special duty Laxman Singh Markam, in which the complainant had alleged that Rai and Congress leader KK Mishra, had fabricated screenshots of mobile phone and shared them on social media to allege his (Markam’s) link to MP Teachers Eligibility Test exam paper leak.

Rai also spent around two months in jail since November 2022 in connection with an SC/ST Atrocities Act case, before being granted bail in the case by the Supreme Court in January 2023.

When contacted by TNIE on Monday over his dismissal from service by the state government, Dr Rai said he would challenge the order of his dismissal from government service before the MP High Court. “I’ll continue to question the wrong policies of the present government, based on case studies from the ground. Associating with tribal outfit JAYS isn’t a crime, as it’s not a political outfit, but merely a tribal outfit,” Rai said.

Sources close to Rai confided to TNIE that he’s exploring possibilities to contest the next assembly polls on the opposition Congress ticket. He is zeroing in on five assembly seats, including Budhni (from where CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the five-times sitting BJP MLA), Mhow (Indore), Khategaon (Dewas) and home district Harda.

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