Mrunal Manmay Dash

Sundergarh: In an unexpected twist of events, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today observed a six-hour bandh in Sundergarh district protesting the suspension of the Chief District Medical officer (CDMO) in-charge, Pankaj Patel.

All government and private offices including shops and business establishments have remained shut in view of the protest. However, vehicular movement has not been disrupted much. These apart, educational institutions, banks and hospitals have also been exempted from the strike.

As per reports, Pankaj Patel, the CDMO In-charge, was suspended yesterday over charges of dereliction in duties after the State government's 5T Secretary V.K Pandian reportedly found some lapses in the hospital during his visit to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) to take stock of ‘Mo Sarkar’ programme’s implementation.

Pandian reportedly found that patients were forced to go for laboratory tests from private patho labs situated outside the hospital due to absence of the facility inside the hospital and also noticed that sub-standard diet was provided to the admitted patients.

Taking cognizance of the lapses, the District Collector was also served a show cause notice by the state government
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However, the suspension of Patel has not gone down well with several outfits and political organisations with the district unit of BJP staging a protest against the move.

Bata Kishore Mishra, BJP’s Sundergarh district President said, “There is a severe shortage of doctors, anaesthesia specialists and technicians in the hospital but Pandian couldn’t see all these shortages. He didn’t even bother to enquire the patients about any allegations before suspending the doctor on healthcare negligence. This move is a vendetta politics played by BJD because Sundergarh is a BJP bastion.”

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