March 29, 2024

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Muzaffarpur shelter home accused Madhu Kumari to be removed from Bihar’s AIDS panel

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muzaffarpur shelter home scandal,madhu kumari,brajesh thakurThe executive council of the Bihar State Aids Control Society (Bsacs) on Wednesday gave its nod to removing Muzaffarpur shelter home accused, Madhu Kumari, as a member of the Bihar State Council on AIDS.

Former health minister Ramdhani Singh, who was with the JD(U) before moving to the Samajwadi Party, had in 2015 asked the Bsacs to induct Kumari to the state panel, which is headed by the chief secretary.

Kumari is the project director of the Wama Shakti Vahini, an NGO empanelled with the Bsacs, working on AIDS control projects in Muzaffarpur and Bettiah.

She was catapulted to the state council on AIDS following an order to this effect by the former health minister, said Bsacs joint director, information, education and communication, Manoj Sinha. Hindustan Times has accessed a November 2, 2015 order to this effect, issued by the then project director, Bsacs, Prabhakar Jha.

A co-accused along with Brajesh Thakur, Kumari is evading arrest in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal in which 34 of the 42 minor girls were allegedly raped. An FIR was filed on May 31.

Giving its approval to remove Kumari, the executive council said the matter be placed before the governing body, which is the apex body of the Bsacs. Principal secretary, health, heads the governing body.

The council, at its 25th meeting here, also terminated contract of Thakur’s NGO — the Sewa Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti (SSEVS) — on all AIDS control project in the state. The NGO is working on target intervention projects at Darbhanga and ‘link workers project’ in Samastipur.

It also ratified the Bsacs decision in 2016 to terminate the arrangement with Thakur’s NGOs — the Sewa Sankalp Evam Vikas Samiti and the Adarsh Mahila Shilp Kala Kendra. The two NGOs were working on targeted intervention programme in Muzaffarpur and Samastipur, respectively.

The NGO had challenged the termination order in the Patna high court, which referred the matter to the technical review committee (TRC) of the Bsacs. The TRC had upheld the Bsacs decision of 2016.

In response to the Bsacs termination notice issued to the Wama Shakti Vahini, the council decided to publish a newspaper advertisement to this effect, before terminating its services.

“The Bsacs had issued the NGO a showcause on August 3, seeking its response why its contract with the Bsacs not be terminated. We are yet to receive a response,” said project director Karuna Kumari.

The Bsacs had issued a showcause to the Wama Shakti Vahini based on adverse reports against Kumar, who runs it.

HOW THINGS HAPPENED

• Ex-health minister Ramdhani Singh had in 2015 asked Bsacs to induct Madhu Kumari to the Bihar State Council on Aids, headed by chief secretary

• Kumari is the project director of the Wama Shakti Vahini, an NGO empanelled with the Bsacs for Aids control projects

• The Bsacs issued the order naming Kumari a member of the state council on November 2, 2015

• Bsacs has also initiated termination procedure, having issued showcause to the Wama Shakti Vahini

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IN THE DOCK

A co-accused along with Brajesh Thakur, Kumari is evading arrest in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal in which 34 of the 42 minor girls were allegedly raped

Courtesy: Hindustan Times

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