Health secy in Odisha shunted amid Covid war A few days ago, he was lauded for joining duty hrs after dad’s funeral Woman with corona delivers twins, one dies
Sikh Sewadars (volunteers) paint the boundary of the Sarovar of Golden Temple during the ongoing nationwide Covid-19 lockdown in Amritsar on Thursday.
In a surprising move, the Odisha government has shifted the state health and family welfare secretary Nikunja Bihari Dhal in the middle of the state’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Dhal, a 1993-batch IAS officer, was on Wednesday transferred and posted as the principal secretary in the energy department, according to a notification.
Removal of Mr Dhal midway of the war against coronavirus has raised many eyebrows as the state government’s Covid-19 spokesperson Subroto Bagchi in March had highly praised the officer for joining the duty within 24 hours of his father’s death.
Mr Dhal had lost his octogenarian father in the second week of March, when the state had reported just one case of infection.
Though Dhal rushed to his native village in Jajpur district, he returned to the job within some hours and looked after the Covid-19 management, earning praise from all quarters for commitment towards the duty.
Earlier, the state had given an indication when it appointed additional chief secretary P.K. Mohapatra in charge of house and family welfare department last month. Though Mr Dhal continued there.
Sources said Mr Dhal could not properly coordinate with both senior and junior officers engaged in tackling the novel coronavirus crisis. The coronavirus
A Covid-19 female positive on Thursday delivered twins — a male and a female — at Maharja Krushna Chandra Gajapati Medical College and Hospital (MKCG) at Berhampur in Odisha’s Ganjam district.
As per reports, the woman was lodged in a Covid-19 hospital at Sitalapalli after her return from Surat. However, a couple of days ago, she was shifted to the Covid cell in MKCG Medical College and Hospital after her condition deteriorated. She delivered the twins on Thursday morning, but unfortunately, the baby boy died soon after birth.
As per latest reports, the condition of the woman and her surviving child is stated to be stable now.
Earlier on Wednesday, a Surat returnee woman lodged in a quarantine centre at Mardhakote in Beguniapada block of the district gave birth to a baby boy.
management needed team efforts, but Dhal could not fit in the system, the sources added.
Odisha has so far reported 624 Covid-19 positive cases, out of whom three died and 158 have recovered so far. Since Thursday evening, as many as 89 more persons tested positive for Covid19 in Odisha, official sources said.