SHILLONG:
The Director of Health Services (DHS) Aman War on Tuesday urged the Commissioner and Secretary of Health and Family Welfare department to withdraw the show cause notice issued to him and initiate action against the Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) for allegedly trespassing on its property at Pasteur Hills, Lawmali and the Principal Secretary of Health Sampath Kumar for violating the principle of natural justice.
“Therefore, in consideration of the facts and circumstances, the undersigned requests your good office to recall/withdraw the said show cause notice dated May 27, 2022 and further take necessary action to penalise the concerned person(s) of IIPH, Shillong, who have not only forcefully occupied the said room(s) which are allocated to the MACS, Shillong, but also for the unruly and unacceptable behavior towards the Project Director and other lady doctor of the MACS, Shillong,” said War in his reply to the show cause.
The DHS said that the building at Pasteur Hills, Lawmali, which is under the custody and possession of the Directorate, was never handed over to IIPH, Shillong and alleged that officials of the institute had trespassed on the property and hence, an FIR should be lodged against the trespassers as per law.
“Whereas, the Principal Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya, Health and Family Welfare Department, Shillong has come to a conclusion with regards to the said incident without affording any opportunity to the undersigned to put forth his version of the said incident, and quite apparently, the said authority has also gone to the media outlets in this regard without verifying the same with the undersigned, which is a clear indication that the said actions were done due to sheer spite and vengeance against the undersigned, for the best reasons known to the said authority, moreover the said authority has violated the principle of natural justice,” he said.
He said that show cause notice was issued to him in the most arbitrary, malicious, unscrupulous and unreasonable manner, which not only tarnished his image despite having rendered decades of impeccable service to the state government, but also caused severe stigma to him, as he is due to retire in a month’s time, and also to his family, without any fault on his part whatsoever.
War said that he has only performed his duties and responsibility as the Director of Health Services (MI) and has acted upon the strong allegations and complaints made by the Project Director, MACS, Shillong, so as to protect and safeguard the said authority as well as the integrity of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Meghalaya, as a whole.
“As such, the show cause notice dated May 27, 2022 issued by your good office is indeed very shocking and unfortunate, and the same is sheer stigma towards the undersigned, without any fault whatsoever on the part of the undersigned,” War said.
Earlier on May 27, the DHS had informed that he had received a letter/complaint from the Project Director, Meghalaya AIDS control Society (MACS), Shillong that a storage room, which was allocated to the MACS by the DHS, was broken into and trespassed upon by some unknown person(s), and upon enquiring with the alleged trespassers, the Project Director, MACS, was seriously humiliated, threatened and abused at.
Tiameren Jamir, the registrar of IIPH, on May 30, however, had rubbished the narrative put forth by War saying that at no point in time did any official of the institute behave in the manner described by the DHS.