Health minister Ramdhani Singh's daughter Anita Kumari on Tuesday resigned from the post of Grade III librarian at IGIMS following a probe demand by BJP into her appointment, alleging violation of rules.
Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) director N.R. Biswas confirmed that Anita submitted her resignation letter to the health hub on Tuesday. Sources in the health department said soon after The Telegraph highlighted the matter in its June 6 edition, the chief minister took cognisance of the matter.
Speaking on the sidelines of his weekly janata durbar, Sushil Kumar Modi said: "The appointment of Anita Kumari was done in gross violation of rules and regulations of IGIMS for appointment of Grade III employees."
Citing loopholes in appointment process, Modi said: "For appointment of librarian in the institute, the candidate must have a BSc degree from a recognised university, besides a bachelor degree in library science. In Anita's case, she didn't have a BSc degree and only has a BLIS degree (bachelor's in library science)."
Sushil added: "Norms were also violated in terms of the age criteria, as the candidate should be between 18 and 30 years, but the health minister's daughter is 37." The BJP leader, who on earlier occasions, had raised issues on several scams such as the fodder scam in the '90s and the more recent medicine purchase and transformer purchase controversies, said the government should probe the appointment of Anita at IGIMS.
"The chief minister's secretary had asked health department principal secretary Brajesh Mehrotra as to why rules were tweaked for health minister's daughter's appointment on the post. Subsequently, Mehrotra questioned Biswas about this. The IGIMS administration was contemplating to terminate Anita but seeing the controversy gaining steam, she resigned," said a source.
Modi added that if the BJP comes to power in the state, it would include yoga in the school curriculum and take steps for the development of Bihar School of Yoga in Munger.
Additional reporting by Shuchismita Chakraborty
