RIMS owes around Rs 38 crore on Medol and Health Map. The government is putting the liability of Rs 53 crore of both the companies on RIMS. There should be a thorough investigation into the conspiracy to get the bills of Medol and Health Map paid from RIMS. Why were the signatures of the body members taken from outside without holding a meeting of the governing body?
Ranchi: Jamshedpur West MLA Saryu Rai has said that the main reason for Dr. Rajkumar’s humiliating departure from the post of RIMS Director is his non-compliance with the government’s order to pay the dues of the testing institutions named Medol and Health Map. For this reason, former director Dr. Kameshwar Prasad also had to leave RIMS.
In a statement issued here, Saryu Rai said that Medol and Health Map had presented a bill for various types of tests totaling about Rs 100 crore. Dr. Kameshwar Prasad had refused to pay it and said that more than half of the bill included fraudulent amount.
According to Mr. Rai, the health department started putting pressure on Dr. Rajkumar, who was appointed as the new director after the departure of Dr. Kameshwar Prasad from RIMS, to pay the bills of Medol and Health Map. Dr. Rajkumar also refused to pay this outstanding bill. The basis of his refusal was that the Medal and Health Map have been restored by the Health Department of the Government of Jharkhand, therefore, if there is any dues, the same should be paid by the Health Department or the Health Department should give a written order to pay it as the Director of RIMS and the government will give this amount to RIMS. But health department officials were not ready for this. They want the RIMS Director to pay their dues without any hesitation.
Saryu Rai said that this is where the differences between RIMS Director Dr. Rajkumar and the Health Department started which ultimately led to the resignation of Dr. Rajkumar. The truth is that the Jharkhand government wants to run RIMS as per its own rules, ignoring the rules and regulations, whereas RIMS is an autonomous institution. There is a clear provision in the RIMS Act and RIMS Rules 2002 that the governing body of RIMS is paramount and the role of the government is limited only to giving instructions as per the declared policy of efficient administration, medical facilities and promotion. The powers of the RIMS Governing Council are clearly mentioned in Section 12 of the RIMS Rules. According to this, the entire right to run RIMS lies with the governing body, but the Jharkhand government always wants to run RIMS as per its wish.
Shri Rai said that when two agencies outside RIMS, Medol and Health Map, were appointed to RIMS for pathological and microbiological investigation, no consultation was taken from the RIMS management. This matter pertains to the time of Banna Gupta, the previous minister of the current Health Minister Dr. Irfan Ansari.
Shri Rai said that the government should explain why Medol and Health Map were appointed from their level for investigation in RIMS and what was its purpose? Was it not a scam of the amount allotted to RIMS? Dr. D.K. appointed as director. Why did the then Health Minister of the government disagree with Singh and Dr. Kameshwar Prasad on this issue? Today the situation is that RIMS has an outstanding of about Rs 38 crore on medical and health maps. This dues is for use of RIMS facilities and resources on behalf of MEDOL and Health Map. Apart from this, Medol and Health Map are demanding around Rs 15 crore from RIMS for investigation. Together, the Jharkhand government is putting a liability of about Rs 53 crore on RIMS. According to Mr. Rai, those who appointed Medol and Health Map for investigation in RIMS should answer for this and action should be taken against them. He wanted to know on what basis did he appoint Medol and Health Map against the rules and conspired to get the fake bills of these pathological testing agencies paid from RIMS? In fact, CID should reach out to the then minister and the then officials to investigate this.
Shri Rai demanded that the Chief Minister appoint the three former directors of RIMS – Dr. D.K. Singh, Dr. Kameshwar Prasad and Dr. Rajkumar should be investigated in the incident of being forced to leave RIMS in a disrespectful manner and the role of then Health Department Minister Banna Gupta should also be investigated. The role of the former Minister of Health Department and the vested interest elements associated with him in making RIMS a den of loot and the outcome of the issues raised in the Governing Body during the tenure of Dr. Rajkumar should also be investigated.
Saryu Rai further said in the statement that the way the Health Department was pressurizing Dr. Rajkumar to do inappropriate work, due to which he had to seek the protection of Jharkhand High Court thrice and the way a conspiracy was hatched to remove him by taking signatures of body members from outside without holding a meeting of the Governing Body, these aspects should also be investigated.
According to Shri Rai, the unfair work done by the Minister and officials of the Health Department by flouting the RIMS Act and Rules and conspiring to get the bill of MEDOL and Health Map appointed by the department from RIMS, should be thoroughly investigated.
