Sanjiv Chaturvedi not eligible for AIIMS CVO post: Harsh Vardhan

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Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr.Harsh Vardhan said here on Thursday that Indian Forest Service officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi is not eligible for the post of Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

"Sanjiv Chaturvedi was not eligible to work in a post he was working here. And nobody can work on that post without the approval of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). This thing was brought to us and we saw that as a person is not eligible for the post and has not been approved by the CVC, so he cannot work on that post, it's a routine thing, don't make this such a big issue," said Harsh Vardhan.

However, questioning Chaturvedi's removal, Former Delhi Chief Secretary Umesh Sehgal said that it's for the CVC to decide the eligibility of a person for the post of CVO, not the government.

"In this particular case where an all India service officer was first appointed and then removed, there is a question mark on whether the CVC had protested against his appointment and wanted his removal, if that is the case then I think the government has been very lax in first appointing him and then keeping him for so long, he should have be removed long back, it does not matter how competent, honest or efficient a particular officer is, rules are rules," said Sehgal.

"But if the CVC has approved the person for the position then it's wrong for the government to remove him without informing the CVC. There should be an enquiry into the issue, and I think the right authority to decide is the CVC, not the government," he added.

Earlier, Sanjiv Chaturvedi, an Indian Forest Service officer of the Haryana cadre, was removed from the post of Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of AIIMS.

This was done even though his appointment order had been for a fixed tenure of four years, ending in June 2016.

Chaturvedi also has a reputation as a whistle blower and was reportedly transferred numerous times for exposing scams.