Former health secretary Keshav Desiraju. (File photo)
A group of eminent citizens and former bureaucrats has written to PM Manmohan Singh questioning the transfer of former health secretary, Keshav Desiraju, to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.
The move, they say in their letter, violates the Supreme Court order directing the government that in the "interest of good governance," tenures of senior government officials should be for at least two years. Mr Desiraju had joined the health ministry in February last year.
While the government sources say the transfer is routine and was done after discussions between the health ministry and Cabinet Secretary, the letter to the PM alleges that it has been done after the bureaucrat refused to notify Dr Ketan Desai as member of the Medical Council of India.
"Since we are at a loss to understand the reasons for this sudden transfer of Keshav Desiraju from the post of Health Secretary, we cannot but construe that the motivation could have something to do with his reluctance to notify Dr Ketan Desai as member of the Medical Council of India," it says.
Dr Desai was arrested by the CBI in 2010 when he was the chairman of the Medical Council of India on charges of disproportionate assets and for allegedly receiving Rs 2 crore as bribe for according recognition to a private medical college in Punjab.
After he was released on bail last year, the Gujarat University nominated Dr Desai as a member of the MCI. That nomination needed to be ratified by the government of India, which, the letter claims, was not agreed upon by Mr Desiraju.
The letter has been signed by historian Ramachandra Guha, former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Infosys co-founder NR Narayan Murthy, senior journalist N Ram among others.
"It is unfortunate that a capable and competent officer has been summarily removed and without even following any procedure," the letter says.