Who will sit in the civil surgeon chair in Daltonganj as its legitimate incumbent Dr John F Kennedy is under judicial custody on charges of corruption which he and his family has strongly rubbished claiming it to be the handiwork of one of the previous civil surgeons here?
A doctor wishing to remain unidentified said "There are too many names here for the occupancy of the chair of the civil surgeon Palamu. It includes three former civil surgeons like Dr Vijay Singh, Dr Anil Kumar Srivastav and also Dr Anil Kumar as it was he who was replaced by Dr Kennedy."
There are other names being flashed just for the sake of amusement like that of the RDDHS Dr S K Srivastav and one doctor from Garhwa. However the above three mentioned names are the strong contenders to the post of the civil surgeon Palamu depending upon the concurrence of the state health department.
There is no official communication from the state health department following spate of holidays beginning Oct 2 to 5.
The post of the civil surgeon Palamu lies vacant and it has triggered a lot of speculations about the man to sit in the chair.
All eyes are now on the DC Palamu A Dodde as the deputy commissioner is the one who can chip in a suitable name of the doctor to act as the civil surgeon till the state health department takes the final call.
The post of the civil surgeon Palamu or anywhere else is not one such which can be left vacant for days together and when there is a flurry of the puja activities all around, one expects this chair to have a sitter sooner than later said another doctor here.
Among the three former civil surgeons of Palamu Dr Anil Kumar is at present civil surgeon in charge Garhwa district besides additional chief medical officer Palamu. This doctor is now in the news for his being allegedly instrumental behind the screen in pushing Dr Kennedy to jail which sources close to this doctor Anil outright reject and rubbish saying the allegation against the doctor is false,fake, baseless etc. Dr Anil Kumar has all along been maintaining silence for what is being talked about him in Daltonganj.
The two left former civil surgeons Dr Vijay Singh and Dr Anil Kumar Srivastav are working at the MMCH Daltonganj and one of the two may fit the bill for the post of the civil surgeon Palamu even if temporarily or till the state health department notifies the man for this post here.
There is one hurdle as the state government is to adhere to its long standing practice where a government servant goes under the judicial remand and then suspension order for the said government servant becomes a routine affair. It has happened in the case of the strongest of the strong lady Puja Singhal. Here in the case of the civil surgeon Palamu behind the bars the administration is looking forward for it.
The vacant situation saw an ugly incident in the sub divisional hospital Hussainabad where for one day Saturday October 1, OPD services were paralyzed by the doctors and staff just for roughing up of the doctor and staff on duty at night by the attendants of suspected case of the snake bite visitor to this hospital said the medical officer in charge of the sub divisional hospital Hussainabad Dr D K Sinha. Dr Sinha said the situation created there at night was awful and threatening to the doctor and staff on duty at night.
Again the post of the civil surgeon Palamu has fallen vacant at such a time when the state is girdling its loins to launch an all out fight against TB and this crusade against the TB is bound to get jolt here if its peripheral health centres show lack of interest finding no civil surgeon at the helm here in Palamu.