Odisha: Bargarh CDMO alleges misbehaviour by Collector

Bhubaneswar, Feb 25

Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) of Bargarh in Odisha, Charubala Rath has alleged that district collector Monisha Banerjee has misbehaved with her and demanded her transfer.

Rath has written a letter to the state health secretary on this issue, claiming that the Collector had mistreated her over a tender work.

Rath mentioned that she had received a sudden call from the personal assistant (PA) to the district collector when she was going to attend Bhimabhoi health camp in Bargarh on February 21.

Subsequently, the Collector asked about the status of techno-managerial tender.

"Since I have joined recently, I said that the process for the tender was underway and I would tell the details after discussion with the district project manager (DPM). She immediately spoke to me in a high-pitched voice, which I have been facing repeatedly after joining here," read the letter written by Rath to the health secretary.

As per the letter, the collector has asked Rath why she was holding the CDMO chair as she does not know anything.

"I told her that I did not come to Bargarh on my own choice but was sent here as per the government order. She then asked me to give in writing that I didn't know anything," the CDMO said.

In her letter, she also mentioned that the Collector had also misbehaved with her on several occasions without understanding anything. She speaks as though she is mentally torturing someone, Rath alleged.

In response to the CDMO's charges, Banerjee said that she as not read the letter. "I have not seen that letter. It has not been marked to me. She has her freedom of expression and she has expressed it."