Bhopal: The state Health Department, which itself emerged as a coronavirus hotspot in Madhya Pradesh with three dozen staffers reporting infection, saw a small administrative reshuffle on Wednesday.
In a violation of COVID-19 protocol, more than 30 health department employees and officials have tested positive, including seven who tested positive on Wednesday. These include Principal Secretary Pallavi Jain Govil, who was shunted from the department late on Tuesday evening, and was replaced by Additional Chief Secretary Md Suleman.
Sudam P Khade has been appointed as Director in place of an ailing J Vijay Kumar who is widely seen as the source of infection in the department.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had also removed the then Director, Prateek Hajela, several days ago over negligence in controlling the spread of the virus.
The officials not only contracted the infection but also avoided hospitalisation as per protocol. Deputy directors Veena Sinha and Ruby Khan were almost forcefully hospitalised by the administration on Monday night.
After an outcry, the state Human Rights Commission on Tuesday served a notice to Chief Secretary Iqbal Singh Bains seeking details of violations by health officials.
Dr Upendra Dubey, Joint Director (Admin) in the department, was admitted to a private hospital after close to 100 locals had protested against him on Tuesday for being at home despite testing positive last Saturday.
Chouhan on Wednesday removed Bhopal's Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Sudhir Dehariya, replacing him with Dr Prabhakar Tiwari. While Dehariya was also shunted out days ago, he was reinstated hours later.
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