Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena Wednesday suspended Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj’s Officer on Special Duty (OSD) R N Das with immediate effect in connection with alleged irregularities in the procurement of medical kits.
The immediate cause for placing the officer under suspension is on account of reported misconduct with regard to unauthorized and illegal running of Jyoti Nursing Home in Shahadra beyond the valid registration period when he was also Medical Superintendent of Nursing Home Cell.
Additionally, Das was issued a show cause notice by the Directorate of Vigilance in April in connection with the alleged irregularities in the procurement of various items like Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits, gloves, masks and Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) kits worth around Rs 60 crore during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. It also stated that Das has abused his powers during his service.
In the order issued on Wednesday, the directorate said, “The Hon’ble Lt. Governor, Delhi, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-rule (1) of Rule-10 of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965, hereby, places the said Dr. R.N. Das, Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Hon’ble Minister (Health), GNCTD, under suspension with immediate effect.”
The order also stated, “The fire incident occurred at Baby Care Centre at Vivek Vihar on May 25 at 11.30 pm is the recent instance of callousness on the part of Nursing Home Cell. Here also Dr. R.N. Das had allowed the registration of the Nursing Home without bothering to ascertain the pending litigation status as well as undertaking given by the Nursing Home w.r.t. various statutory compliances including fire safety.”
The BJP had earlier also alleged Das’s role in the registration process of a children’s hospital in Vivek Vihar where six newborns were killed in a fire incident on Saturday night. Reacting to the suspension, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said “This is just the beginning because we will demand the suspension of all officials involved in the corruption from top to bottom. Along with this, we will also demand an investigation into the role of the former Health Minister in 2021 Satyendra Jain and the local AAP MLA.”
He said that the suspension of Dr. R.N. Das, who was the OSD of Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and Arvind Kejriwal’s close aide in the Vivek Vihar tragedy, is evidence that the mismanagement and corruption in the health department of the Delhi government is involved in this entire case.
The Delhi BJP President said, “Strict action should be taken against every person involved in this crime, for which the BJP will continue to fight. This is just the beginning, we will continue to fight against every person who has been involved in this fire mishap, who has made corruption his source of income and will not sit until action is taken against them. Whether they are officials of the Delhi Fire Service or those who signed on these files, no one will be spared, and our fight against them will continue.”
