Srinagar: It can only happen in Jammu and Kashmir where a top doctor, who is said to be close to the ruling party, even after attaining the age of superannuation continues to be the Director of the prestigious Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS).
Dr Showkat Zargar was retired on May 31 of this year, but he is still the Director SKIMS, which is a clear violation of SKIMS norms and the cabinet order which has banned the reemployment and extension to the government officials.
The interesting part of the story is that the top government officials are also unaware whether the extension has been given to the Director SKIMS or not. Principal Secretary to Chief Minister B B Vyas said it was not his subject matter. “I am totally unaware about his extension. I don’t want to talk more about the issue,” Vyas said.
When contacted the political secretary to the Chief Minister Tanvir Sadiq also refused to comment and instead threw ball into the court of Minister of Health and Medical Education Taj Mohiddin. Despite repeated attempts Taj didn’t answer the phone.
The doctors and other employees at SKIMS said that it has happened for the first time in the history of SKIMS that a retired official continues to head the institute despite the fact there is no official communiqué about his extension.
“Anything is possible in this government. The extension will be a gross violation of SKIMS order no. 12 SKIMS of May 14, 2010, which explicitly specifies “the appointment of the candidate shall be made on tenure basis up to a maximum of five years or till the appointee attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.”
If the cabinet order number 116/12-2013 is taking into consideration Dr Zargar cannot be given any extension in his services. “This Cabinet decision imposes blanket ban on re-employment/extension,” a senior faculty at the Institute said.
Since the day Dr Zargar took over as the Director SKIMS, his elevation came under severe criticism with many insiders in the hospital saying that it was nothing less than a shock for them that the person who was terminated from his services in 1999 was made the Director of a prestigious institute.
A senior doctor at SKIMS said “Dr Showkat Zargar rose to the position of director by doing fraud and scheming and showed the exit to genuine aspirants. If government is really serious about saving this Institute, a genuine person should immediately be given the charge of director till a formal selection is made,” he added.
There is also a case under number. SO/SS/Index/11/71 dated 01/04/2011 CID, which says that Dr. Zargar was reportedly involved in the “anti-social activities”. Repeated attempts to contact Dr Zargar proved futile.