Health Ministry in knots over vacancies to senior posts in COVID core team

Even though the Centre has exuded confidence over its capability to handle a possible third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Health Ministry has expressed concern over vacancies in senior posts of its COVID-19 force which has put it under “acute stress”.

“As you are aware that even though the pandemic of COVID-19 is declining, however, we cannot let our guard down. At this crucial juncture, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is required to put in extra efforts to ensure full preparedness across the country. Vacant positions of one Joint Secretary and eight DS (deputy secretaries)/directors have put this ministry under acute stress,” Health Secretary Rajesh Bhusan told Deepti Umashankar, Establishment Officer and Additional Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) in a letter.

Bhusan in the letter, urged for “early and timely action” to fill the existing vacancies and those to posts that will go vacant in the coming weeks.

Also read: Newly formed advisory group last chance to find origin of COVID-19: WHO

In the letter, dated October 13, Bhusan shared with the DoPT a list of 11 posts which are lying vacant or will be vacated soon. Some of them include the post of Additional Secretary and Mission Director, National Health Mission, held by Vandana Gurnami, who went on one-year study leave in September 2021; the post of Joint Secretary, held by Nipun Vinayak, who was handling the oxygen supply during April-May and was sent back to his parent Maharashtra cadre on August 31; and the post of Joint Secretary held by Lav Agarwal, known for his daily briefing on the COVID-19 situation, whose tenure in the ministry would end on November 28.

Other senior officials who would vacate their posts are Bindu Tewari, an Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers official who is working as a director in the ministry, and was repatriated to her cadre on July 7; and N Yuvaraj, who was the Director to the Joint Secretary in the Department of Pharmaceuticals.

That apart, Mahatme Sandeep Namdeo, who was the Deputy Secretary in the ministry has now been posted as the Private Secretary to Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw; while Yatish S G, another Deputy Secretary was permanently sent to his parent IRTS cadre in September.

According to Indian Express, this is the second time in two months that Bhusan wrote to the DoPT regarding vacancies in the Health Ministry. In his last letter dated August 12, he had intimated the DoPT about vacancies to the posts of additional secretary, joint secretary, director and deputy secretary under the Central Staffing Scheme and Central Secretariat Services.

Also read: Covaxin gets emergency use approval for children aged 2-18 years

When approached on the issue of vacancies, a Health Ministry official told IE that it is a standard procedure of all ministries to intimate the DoPT on vacancies.

“Each ministry gives the list of vacancies every month to the DoPT. Otherwise how would they fill the vacancies?” the official told IE.