AIIMS ex-CVO may head anti-graft arm
NEW DELHI: Anti-corruption crusader and Indian Forest Service officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi, who took on former health minister Harsh Vardhan last year, is likely to head the anti-corruption wing of the Delhi government.
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal had backed Chaturvedi when he was unceremoniously removed from the post of chief vigilance officer of AIIMS by Vardhan.
It was alleged that Chaturvedi was removed from his position on the basis of a letter written by then BJP general secretary and now Union health minister JP Nadda.
Chaturvedi, who is serving as additional secretary at AIIMS currently, was reportedly removed at a time when he was about to frame charges against certain officers at AIIMS in relation to a fake drugs case. He was also investigating into several other complaints of corruption made at institution.
Now, with the AAP forming the government in Delhi, party sources said that he will be joining the government, but his position has not been decided yet. He can either head the anti-graft wing of the Delhi government or can be made in charge of the anti-corruption call centre that Kejriwal will restore after taking over as the chief minister on Saturday.
However, the Delhi government will have to take clearance of Chaturvedi’s cadre controlling authority by the Ministry of Environment and Forest. It may not be easy as environment minister Prakash Javadekar did not agree to his plea for cadre transfer from Haryana to Uttarakhand.
Sources said that the minister had sought a fresh NOC from Haryana and Uttarakhand governments to allow transfer even though his cadre transfer request had been agreed upon by the Cabinet Secretariat and officers of the environment ministry.