The World Bank’s report which questioned the activities of Mumbai District AIDS Control Society (MDACS) may not have had anything to do with the MDACS project.
The World Bank’s report which questioned the activities of Mumbai District AIDS Control Society (MDACS) may not have had anything to do with the MDACS project director Dr Nirupa Borges, since she took over in 2006 — after the investigation was over. But heads had to roll any way.
Perhaps, that is why, a full three years after appointing Borges, the civic administration has suddenly woken up to the fact that the AIDS project needs “a public health expert with grassroots experience” and not an academician.
On Friday, municipal commissioner Jairaj Phatak, offered Dr Borges the post of dean of Sion Hospital, by way of an “honourable exit,” which she declined indignantly. While
Dr Borges insisted that she had asked for VRS for personal reasons, her displeasure was evident when she said, “After all these years of efforts and with my experience, if that is what they have to offer, then I would rather take voluntary retirement.”
According to BMC sources, additional municipal commissioner Kishore Gajhbhiye will be in-charge of MDACS temporarily.
“NACO chief Sujata Rao had a personal meeting with me, where she said that the Mumbai project had done badly compared to Tamil Nadu and Andhra,” said Phatak.
However, with Borges stepping off, tough times lie ahead for thousands of AIDS patients in the city.
And ironically, no action has been taken against the charges of corruption and malpractices levelled against MDACS activities in the period between 2002-2006. That incidentally was also the period when it was found that Mumbai was doing badly when compared to Chennai and Andhra Pradesh.
s_deepa@dnaindia.net
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