The Bokaro civil surgeon was demoted and transferred to Koderma on Tuesday night, the action coming a day after chief minister Hemant Soren pulled up the district administration for the shockingly poor state of affairs at the district hospital.

Jitendra Kumar will now move to Koderma Sadar Hospital as medical officer. Koderma medical officer Ajay Bhushan Prasad will replace him as Bokaro civil surgeon.

The changes were part of a wide-ranging reshuffle of medical officers and civil surgeons notified by the Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare Department on Monday night. In all, 29 doctors posted in various districts were shuffled.

Also, medical officer of Sub Divisional Hospital of Sahebganj Sanjay Kumar was transferred to Petarwar as the medical officer of the community health centre there. The officers have all been asked to take on their new assigments within a fortnight.

Hemant had on Monday re-tweeted Bokaro resident Afzal Khan's complaint to Bokaro Deputy Commissioner Kuldeep Chaudhary wherein he had highlighted serious deficiencies in the functioning of the district hospital. Khan had attached clippings of reports that had appeared in the vernacular press to bolster his claim.

The chief minister had asked the deputy commisisoner to take immediate action with regard to the complaint and report compliance.

Chaudhary inspected the Sadar Hospital in Chas on Monday and admonished its staff for its shoddy upkeep. He was accompanied by deputy development commissioner Jay Kishore Prasad and Bokaro civil surgeon Dr Jitendra Kumar during the inspection.

Some of the admitted patients complained to Chaudhary about poor housekeeping services and delayed meals.

Chaudhary instructed hospital staff to ensure regular replacement of bedsheets and that adequate dustbins were placed at designated places to ensure the hospital was clean at all time.

Jitender Kumar Gautam Dey