IIPS director Dr KS James suspended over ‘alleged irregularities’; govt accused of data manipulation
New Delhi: Union health ministry suspended Dr K S James, director of International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) which conducts crucial data collection, the National Family Health Survey (NFHS).
While it is alleged that the suspension comes in the wake of the institute publishing the latest survey, NFHS-5, which contained data that contradicts the political agenda of the government, such as continuing open defecation and lack of access to green fuel in rural India.
Meanwhile, the ministry said that the director was suspended to ensure a fair probe into the alleged irregularities in the appointments and recruitment of faculty, and compliance with reservation rosters, the 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.
Online media The Wire 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.
CPM central committee member and former minister with Kerala government Dr TM Thomas Isaac slammed the suspension. “In my previous post, I highlighted the troubling actions taken by the union government in manipulating the 2021 Census, unemployment survey, consumer survey, and poverty figures. The suspension of Prof James has further exacerbated the severity of these attempts to undermine data accuracy and transparency, pushing these measures beyond acceptable limits,” he wrote on Facebook.
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.
The FFC found prima facie irregularities in 11 of the 35 complaints received. These irregularities were mainly regarding lapses observed in certain appointments, recruitment of faculty, reservation rosters, and dead stock registers among others, the ministry said.
The FFC has also recommended an inquiry against the concerned registrars for the corresponding period as well as the concerned director.
The charges are serious in nature and the director of the IIPS, being the head of the institute, is directly or indirectly responsible for the failure to exercise adequate supervision, the ministry said.
Dr James is a Malayali. He pursued PhD from Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, under Dr S Irudaya Rajan. He did postdoctoral research at Harvard University. He was a faculty at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
With PTI inputs