Dr Raj Bahadur gets yet another extension

Chandigarh, February 29
The Director-Principal (DP) of the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, Dr Raj Bahadur, received yet another extension today, albeit an unspecified one, as the process of selecting his successor hangs fire with the UPSC. This is the fourth extension for Dr Bahadur, who came on a two-year deputation to the hospital on December 1, 2007.
The UT Administration has made it clear to the PGI authorities, the parent organisation of Dr Bahadur, that it would not be relieving him till his successor is appointed. While UT officials maintain that the process for the selection of the new DP is “under process”, applicants for the post confide that they are yet to hear from the UPSC.
Though the UT health officials are now putting the onus for the delay on the UPSC, documents accessed by The Tribune through the Right to Information Act (RTI) reveal that the Administration has been delaying the matters, wittingly or unwittingly, and giving repeated extensions to Dr Bahadur. Unlike the PGI, where an acting Director is appointed at the end of the tenure of an incumbent, the Administration has set it own rules in retaining Dr Bahadur, despite strong objections from the PGI.
Documents reveal that though the process for the selection of the new DP was initiated on September 4, 2011, with an advertisement inviting applications from eligible doctors, the file of the candidates was sent to the UPSC on November 28, two days before the culmination of Dr Bahadur’s third extension. This was despite the fact that the last day for receiving applications for the post was November 3. Why the Administration took 25 days to send the file remains questionable.
As per the RTI reply (copy in the possession of The Tribune) given by the Under Secretary and CPIO, UPSC, the applications from the Administration were received by hand under the single-window system on November 30, 2011. According to a letter sent by the Administration, there are a total of nine applicants for the post, including five from the GMCH, but only four are eligible “in terms of notified recruitment rules for the post”.