Amid fight against Covid-19, Prateek Hajela moved from health commissioner’s post
Hajela’s removal comes on the ground of his ‘dereliction of duty during the Covid-19 pandemic,’ according to a government statement.
Former National Register of Citizens (NRC) coordinator for Assam and 1995-batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, Prateek Hajela was removed as commissioner of health services, Madhya Pradesh by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Hajela’s removal comes on the ground of his ‘dereliction of duty during the Covid-19 pandemic,’ according to a government statement.
“Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan instructed immediate removal of Prateek Hajela from the post of commissioner, health services on his extreme carelessness towards his duties amid the Covid-19 pandemic”, said an official statement from directorate of public relations on Wednesday evening.
The CM expressed his displeasure with Hajela’s work during his review meeting with officials over coronavirus situation in the state on Wednesday evening, as per an official.
The health department is tasked with taking all possible measures for identifying, quarantining and treating the Covid-19 patients and suspected patients besides working as a nodal department to coordinate among all the departments engaged in the fight against the pandemic.
A native of Madhya Pradesh and BTech in Electronics from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Prateek Hajela moved to Madhya Pradesh on deputation as per an order of the Supreme Court passed on October 18, 2019.
Earlier, in Assam, he was appointed as a coordinator to prepare National Register of Citizens (NRC) as per a directive of the Supreme Court in September 2013.
However, he had his share of controversies too.
The Assam police registered two cases against Hajela and other unidentified officials in September 2019 for alleged “discrepancies” in the final NRC list published on August 31, 2019.
Nearly two million people were left off the list as a part of an exercise to check illegal immigration.
According to Assam Police, a businessman and an indigenous Muslim students organisation — All Assam Goriya-Moriya Yuva Chatra Parishad (AAGMYCP) — filed separate FIRs against Hajela in Dibrugarh and Guwahati.
In its complaint, the indigenous organisation alleged that “even when people had correct documents, NRC coordinator Prateek Hajela intentionally excluded the names of Goriya, Moriya and many indigenous sons of the soil”.
In Dibrugarh, the police registered a case against Hajela and other NRC officials on the complaint of businessman Chandan Mazumdar who was upset over his exclusion even as his mother made it to the list.
An Assam-based NGO, Assam Public Works (APW), also lodged an FIR against Hajela and two persons who were declared as foreigners in 2016 and included in the NRC list.
Despite efforts, Hajela could not be reached for his comments. He didn’t take calls and didn’t respond to the text message.
