Bihar health secretary transferred as COVID-19 crisis peaks

In a sudden move, the Bihar government Wednesday transferred Health Secretary Sanjay Kumar, who has been at the forefront of the state's fight against coronavirus.

According to a notification issued by the General Administration Department, the 1990-batch IAS officer has been made to swap posts with 1993-batch officer Uday Singh Kumawat, who is the state's Principal Secretary for Tourism Department.

No reason has been cited for the abrupt top-level reshuffle, which comes as a surprise since Sanjay Kumar is said to be in the good books of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

He had come out unscathed when the state health department was in the eye of a storm last year when an outbreak of brain fever in Muzaffarpur killed 200 children in about a month.

He also held the additional charge of the cabinet secretariat department for a few months when the post was vacant.

Speculations are rife that with the COVID 19 crisis deepening, especially in the aftermath of the massive influx of migrants, the state may have opted for a change of guard to check further slide in the situation.