NGOs to move court against Rims director

IMPHAL: Two prominent NGOs in Manipur are all set to move court against Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims) director S Sekharjit Singh, accusing him of violating appointment norms in the premier health institute of the northeast.

Leaders of All Manipur Thanga People's Welfare Association (AMTPWA) and All Manipur Students' Guardian Organization (AMSGO) said a memorandum to this effect would be submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Union health minister.

Expounding the allegations, adviser to AMSGO N Tomba, at a media conference here on Wednesday, said former Rims director L Fimate had notified appointment to 22 different posts in the institute under central reservation quota rules in 2009. But after Sekharjit became the director, he cancelled the notification, citing public interest, Tomba said. He added that Sekharjit then issued a fresh notification for appointment to the same posts, but less number, by violating the central reservation quota.

He also accused Sekharjit of holding viva voce test for lower division clerks from 10 am till late in the night, which is in total violation of exam norms. All official formalities pertaining to construction and contract work in Rims have been violated since Sekharjit assumed charge as director in September, 2010. He alleged that there is no trolley to carry injured people to the emergency unit of the institute located in the heart of Imphal, forcing the patient party or bystanders to do the needful. Moreover, a patient's family has to buy all required first-aid items like cotton, thread and hand gloves from chemist shops, he said.

He added that though an applicant for the director's post should hold the post of professor for not less than five years, there was no sanctioned post of professor in the urology department to which Sekharjit belonged at the time of his appointment. Sekharjit was serving as professor in urology under time-scale promotion, which was not a regular post, he said.

He said a memorandum highlighting the director's wrongdoings would also be submitted to the Prime Minister, Union health minister and the three MPs representing the state.