The Bihar government instituted inquiry over the AIIMS head’s case
The government official said that Bihar government has initiated an inquiry for the issue of an OBC ( other Backward classes) non- creamy layer( NCL) certificate to the son of the executive director plus chief executive officer of Patna’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Dr Gopal Krushna Pal.
Dr Auroprakash Pal, the son, was being issued not one, but two such certificates, through which he gained under OBC category in the three- year postgraduate MD (Doctor of Medicine) course in microbiology at AIIMS, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, in which area his father the senior Dr Pal holds additional charge as ED- cum- CEO.
Daughters and sons of class 1 officers of the all- India Central and state services includes under the creamy layer, and are not included to the benefit of reservation of 27% for OBCs in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, as followed by the rules of the Department of Personnel and Training ( DoPT).
Additionally, caste certificates are something which is certified from an applicant’s place of domicile, which is Odisha in this case. But, the OBC-NCL certificates of Dr Auroprakash Pal have been emitted from Patna. It quoted Dr Pal’s bungalow at AIIMS residential complex in Khagaul block of Patna’s Danapur sub-division as the son’s address.
Picture credit: Hindustan Times
The breaking of the news in social media
In early September the news went widespread on social media, which was followed by Dr Auroprakash Pal being dropped out from the MD course, and the senior Dr Pal asked to cancel the OBS-NCL certificates. Senior Dr Pal also claimed that his salary should not be taken into attention while taking the decision whether his son belongs to a creamy layer or not, which is not the case.
A committee consisting of three- member, which is headed by an additional district magistrate (ADM), including the district welfare officer and the district accounts officer, has been constituted to probe the the asserted errors in issuances of OBC-NCL certificate to Dr Auroprakash Pal, son of Dr GK Pal, said by Chandra Shekhar Singh, district magistrate (DM) of Patna.
On Monday Singh said that they have introduced the inquiry to set up irregularities, if in any case, in issuance of OBC- NCL certificate, just after Dr Pal requested for the cancellation of the certificate on September 10. The inquiry committee is being expected to submit its report soon.
Dr Auroprakash Pal was being emitted with two OBC-NCL certificates from Patna, the first was being issued on January 13 and another on April 27 by the revenue officer of Danapur.
On September 3, Dr Auroprakash Pal dropped out from the MD course, after the news of his selection on the basis of OBC-NCL certificate came out on social media.
The senior Dr Pal stated that his son resigned from the MD programme by paying a penalty of 3 lakh, as he disliked the subject and decided to prepare for the next INI- CET (Institute of National Importance- Common Entrance Test) on November 10.
On September 5, Dr Gaurav Gupta, additional professor and head, from the department of surgery, AIIMS Gorakhpur, issued an online complaint on Jan Sunvai, which is an online complaint redressal system in Uttar Pradesh, seeking a case and action against those responsible for concealing facts to procure OBC-NCL certificates.
Picture credit: Times of India
Dr Pal denied having disguised any fact to obtain the OBC-NCL certificates for his son. He puts the responsibility of issuing the certificates on the Bihar government.
He also rubbished allegations of fake parental service declaration and income declaration by his son for issuance of OBC-NCL certificate.
For professionals like doctors, the rule implies that those having gross annual income of 8 lakh or above will come under creamy layer.
Dr. Pal claimed that there was some confusion occurred over jurisdiction that resulted in gaining two OBC-NCL certificates for his son, as the AIIMS residential complex comes under the administrative control of Khagaul and the institute came under Phulwarisharif block.
By justifying Dr Auroprakash Pal’s suitability for OBC-NCL certificate when his both the parents father and mother Dr Prabhati Pal, a professor of physiology at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Pondicherry, are senior group class 1 officers, Dr Pal stated that he was under the influence of the bonafide belief that neither he nor his wife is a Central government employee, as employees of AIIMS Patna and JIPMER are not Central government employees, and benefits of Central government employees are not applicable for them.
Dr. Pal didn’t explain the reason behind surrendering his son’s OBC-NCL certificate and asked for its cancellation.
