NEIGRIHMS Director: I played the role of a whistleblower

A Correspondent

SHILLONG: Director of North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) Dr DM Thappa on Monday said that he was asked to leave the institute because he played the role of a whistleblower.

“I have acted as a whistle blower. Rather than catching a thief you catch hold of the other persons,” Dr Thappa told media persons during a press briefing.

The 13th Governing Council meeting of NEIGRIHMS chaired by Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan in New Delhi on October 14, had reportedly asked the NEIGRIHMS Director to resign or else a transfer order would be issued.

The Director alleged that a few of the governing council members misled the Union Minister on the issue even as he said that the governing council should also hear out his side of the story but was not allowed to do so.

“I asked that I should be allowed to give a statement. The governing council they did not wanted me to give the answers,” Dr Thappa said.

He told media persons that he did not want to stick to this chair and that there was no question of his staying in a place from where he was asked to leave.

“But I don’t want to go with mud or a blot on my face, because I also have an image of integrity and honesty. Let people prove it that my honesty and integrity has been doubtful because of some of my acts. But they have to give me some kind of room, to explain it,” the Director added.

He alleged that on April 30 this year, an expose has been done of a nexus between Dr Animesh Mishra of the cardiology department and Sanjo Pharmacy, located outside the institute, even as he said that there are some elements in the governing council, which wanted to protect the person who is a beneficiary.

According to Dr Thappa, the husband of the proprietor of the pharmacy from where items of the cardiology department like stents are procured is working in the radio diagnosis department as a technician.

“He is running two pharmacies outside, and another is Faith Pharmacy. The day when these items were captured, this technician also was there at the site of the crime to take possession of these items,” the NEIGRIHMS Director alleged even as he estimated that a person can earn Rs 1 crore a month from this business.

“We have already done a preliminary enquiry and sent the report to the Central Vigilance Commission, and the CVO of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,” he pointed out.

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