New Delhi: The government’s decision of removing Sanjiv Chaturvedi from the post of Chief Vigilance Officer of AIIMS has sparked a row in the political circles. A day after Chaturvedi was asked to vacate, Aam Admi Party Chief Arvind Kejriwal has questioned why an honest officer has been removed from his post. Other AAP leaders have also slammed the decision.
Chaturvedi, a 2002 batch Haryana cadre Indian Forest Service officer, was appointed the AIIMS CVO in June 2012 with fixed tenure of four years.
In an order dated August 14, the ministry has assigned the additional charge of the AIIMS CVO post to Joint-Secretary and CVO of ministry for a period of three months. Chaturvedi has been transferred 12 times in five years for exposing corruption in the Haryana government.
In May 2012, when he was selected for the posting in AIIMS, Haryana chief minister Bhupender Singh Hooda had refused to relieve him from the services. However, he was relieved after an intervention by the Union government in June 2012.
During his tenure as the CVO, Chaturvedi recommended action against several senior AIIMS officials and in same cases, CBI has registered cases. Annual confidential report of the bureaucrat was outstanding and senior officials praised his integrity and efficiency.
On May 23 this year, the health secretary had himself approved the proposal that appointment of Chaturvedi is per statutory requirements.