Sept. 30: Concerned over charges of maladministration and corruption in Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH), Dispur has planned to appoint an officer-on-special-duty (OSD) to monitor the functioning of the hospital.
Official sources said state health minister Bhumidhar Barman would appoint the officer after studying reports sought from the principal and superintendent of the GMCH on the current state of affairs in the hospital.
A senior health department official said the officer would be an Assam Civil Service (ACS) official and would be primarily responsible for the administration of hospital.
?The officer will also look after utilisation of government funds allocated to the hospital. The post of officer-on-special-duty will be created by abolishing the post of secretary in GMCH?s Hospital Management Society (HMS),? he said.
Society secretary Pradyut Barman has already offered to resign in protest against lack of transparency in hospital management.
The secretary works under the GMCH superintendent. The officer will also have administrative power to take decisions on his own.
Sources said the principal of GMCH, Dr M.M. Deka, is also concerned over the charges of corruption and unfair practices in the functioning of the Hospital Management Society.
He asked the health minister to let him concentrate on the academic sphere and not engage him in any administrative functioning.
?Dispur has an impression that there is a serious rift between those in charge of administration and academics. So it wants someone to be there to co-ordinate between the two wings,? a source said.
Breaking his silence after his resignation from the post of executive member of the Hospital Management Society, vice-principal of the GMCH Taufik Rahman Borbora yesterday said ?poor men?s money? collected by the hospital in the name of admission fees and medical expenses was being grossly misutilised.
He alleged unfair practices in the matter of purchase of drugs, machines, electrical goods, construction activities and appointments.
