RINPAS Officials “Bypassed” Rules to Modify Appointing Committee

The deliberate negligence – for benefits perhaps – of several officers at Ranchi Institute of Neuro-Psychiatry and Allied Sciences (RINPAS) has sparked another controversy in Jharkhand. The negligence by the officers in the BJP-led Jharkhand government is enough to understand how the authorities are running government of its own accord.

The health department in Jharkhand has changed the structure of a committee formed by the governor without following any legitimate procedures. The strength of the committee for appointing the director of the institute has been reduced to five from seven and interestingly, several officials of expertise were removed from the committee so that seemingly they could appoint their preferred person to the post of the director.

According to a survey by a Hindi Newspaper, Dainik Jagran in 2009, a committee was formed by the governor in order to appoint the director of RINPAS, but later, the health department officials secretly made major changes to this. According to the rules, it was necessary to get in the Cabinet's permission or to get approval from the chief minister to make changes to it. But, nothing has been done, and due to this, the prestigious institute of Jharkhand, RINPAS is not getting its director in spite of repeatedly giving advertisement at various places.

After carelessness of the health department, many questions are being raised regarding the fashion in which the officials run the prestigious institute. The two members, who have been removed from the committee, are development commissioner and the director of National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS). In the absence of these two the appointment could easily be coerced by the health department.

Speaking to Newsclick, a doctor from RINPAS, who wanted to be anonymous, said, "Recently, I heard that health department will look after all the recruitment process as there are no bylaws for the same. I remember it was 2003-2004 that for the first time, for permanent recruitment, there were advertisements for various posts, but since then people are being hired on temporary basis.”

He further added that when RINPAS was established, it was told that it will be autonomous institute and will have laws and norms according to the government policy, but it's been decades, and nothing has been done so far.