Bhubaneswar: Health and family welfare minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, who also held the information and public relations portfolio, Friday resigned from the posts.
“Nayak tendered his resignation on moral grounds. I have accepted his resignation and forwarded it to the Governor for approval,” Patnaik said here at the secretariat.
“I have submitted my resignation on moral grounds,” Nayak said Friday evening.
The resignation has come against the backdrop of the tragedy at SUM Hospital October 17 in which 25 people have died.
Two separate inquiries are being conducted into the mishap by the revenue divisional commissioner central division and director of medical education and training.
Leaders of various opposition parties had demanded Nayak’s resignation after the fire tragedy. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and senior minister Damodar Rout had also questioned how SUM Hospital had managed to operate in violation of several norms.
The fire mishap was the latest in a string of controversies involving the health sector of the state. Trouble for Nayak began in August last year when 60 infants died at Cuttack’s Sishu Bhawan, following which Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi paid a visit to the hospital.
The death of 19 children of Nagada village in Jajpur district because of alleged malnourishment and the Dana Majhi episode added to the woes. On top of this have come the deaths of more than 60 children in Malkangiri due to Japanese Encephalitis.
The health minister faced severe flak over the SUM Hospital fire tragedy after it was learnt that he was close to hospital owner Manoj Nayak, who is now in police custody, and that his wife is working in an educational institution that is owned by the same group that owns the hospital. People from different sections of society had termed this as a conflict of interest
Nayak had said that an “impartial probe will be conducted and stern action will be taken as per law”, but people said that transparency in the probes was unlikely. Nayak’s resignation is the first in this council of ministers.
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