7 docs suspended for faking as KIMS staff

Times of India, March 17, 2012

BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Friday suspended seven doctors for faking as employees of a private medical college to save it from Medical Council of India (MCI) de-recognition.

This followed CM Naveen Patnaik directing the health department to initiate action against them after CBI found the doctors engaging in a fraud by posing as doctors of Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), part of the KIIT group of institutions here.

The suspended doctors, Bablu Tudu, posted at Badampahad in Mayurbhanj district, Jyoti Prakash Behera (Bhawanipatna district headquarters hospital), Amiya Shankar Pal (Madhupur, Kalahandi), Manoranjan Panigrahi (Police Hospital, Bhawanipatna), Jagannath Hansda (Gadia, Mayurbhanj), Jyoti Ranjan Pradhan (Rangamatia, Mayurbhanj) and Sanjay KumarSahoo of Muribahal hospital in Balangir district face strict disciplinary proceedings under the Orissa Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1962, health minister Prasanna Acharya said.

"The government will show no leniency towards the erring doctors. We will take strict action against those guilty," Acharya added. CBI sources said the government medicos were paid hefty amounts to masquerade as KIMS doctors.

CBI sources said it had on January 30 chargesheeted four senior functionaries of KIMS - Bhagabati Charan Das (dean-cum-principal), Achyuta Samanta (secretary, KIIT), Debasish Debata (assistant personnel officer) and Dilip Kumar Panda (deputy chief executive officer) - for resorting to "fraudulent" practice to impress the MCI squad, which inspected the institute on March 5, 2010.

KIMS, in a media statement, was silent on the chargesheet against its functionaries, but said it was not responsible for the forgery by the doctors. "The seven doctors had applied for jobs in KIMS and there was no way we could know from around our 5,000 employees that they were government employees. They concealed information that they were government doctors," the statement said. "The development would not cause any damage to KIMS nor will it affect its recognition with MCI," it added.

CBI sources said the four KIMS functionaries were chargesheeted under sections 120 (B), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using forged documents as genuine) and 176 IPC. "We have incriminating evidence against the accused and also recommended MCI to cancel recognition to KIMS," CBI SP (Bhubaneswar) M S Khan said. However, the seven doctors were not chargesheeted in the case. They were not available for comments.

On November 11, 2010, CBI registered a case against KIMS authorities following allegations of irregularities, Khan said. Asked whether CBI would arrest those named in the chargesheet, Khan said, "We will arrest them if required. Otherwise, the court will issue them summons."