IIPS director suspended to ensure fair probe into alleged irregularities, govt says move not punishment

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Union health ministry said while asserting that the move should not be seen as a punishment. The ministry on Saturday said the suspension initially is for 90 days or completion of further investigation, whichever is earlier. It is revocable with the approval of the Suspension Revocation Committee/Review Committee in the ministry.

The International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) is an institute under the administrative control of the Union health ministry which prepares the National Family Health Surveys. A media report has claimed that James was asked by the government to resign earlier as it was not happy with certain data sets that came up in the surveys conducted by the IIPS. However, a Union health ministry statement issued here said, «The suspension is not a punishment but to pave way for a fair and free investigation.» Recently, various complaints were received regarding irregularities in recruitment and appointments and compliance with the reservation roster.

To investigate them, a fact-finding committee (FFC) was constituted by the Union health ministry on May 6. Based on the information gathered from IIPS statements from both the complainants and the respondent the reports of the Special Audit Team, the team for examining Reservation and Roster Registers of IIPS and the sub-committee for examining the non-selection of the Hindi officer, the FFC examined each of the complaints received, the ministry said. It then submitted its report which was accepted by the ministry.