Mysuru Taluk Health officials try to evade accountability by creating false impression

Mysore/Mysuru: As scrutiny intensifies on the officials who were unaware or complicit in the illegal abortion racket recently uncovered by the Bengaluru Police across Bengaluru, Mysuru and Mandya, the Mysuru Taluk Officers of Health Department are resorting to various tactics to evade investigation and avoid accountability.

In a glaring display of unethical behaviour and a breach of professional conduct, Taluk Health Department officials have surreptitiously affixed a back-dated or pre-dated notice to the now-seized Mathaa Hospital in Udayagiri, Mysuru. This deceptive manoeuvre aims to create the false impression that the Department had taken action against the Hospital in June 2023, months prior to the busting of the racket.

Embarrassment for District Administration

However, the Health Department’s unscrupulous act of fabricating a back-dated document has not gone unnoticed, leading to embarrassment for the Mysuru District Administration that has constituted a Task Force to oversee such cases, extending its monitoring from the village level to the city level.

Unearthing the huge racket, the Bengaluru Police said that the illegal business was thriving in Mysuru and Mandya since the last three years and over 3,000 illegal abortions were held. The racket flourished under the very nose of the Health Department that was unaware or complicit. To show that they were aware of the illegal activities at Mathaa Hospital, the Health Department officials have pasted the pre-dated (June 22, 2023) notice on the walls of the Hospital. 

This notice was pasted overnight on Tuesday and in a clandestine manner. Notably, the Hospital has been shut since the last three months. The notice states that the Department received oral complaints about the illegal sex determination tests being conducted at the hospital and the Hospital authorities have been asked to reply to the notice within seven days.  

Questions on credibility and transparency 

The intention behind this action by Mysuru Taluk Health officials was likely to portray that the notice had been issued to Mathaa Hospital as far back as June 2023, with the goal of keeping a copy in their records to evade further scrutiny. However, this manoeuvre has backfired, as it has come to light that the notice was freshly pasted, and it remains in place despite the hospital being closed for three months. This revelation raises questions about the credibility and transparency of the Health Department’s actions in response to the illegal activities.

By affixing the notice after the exposure of the racket, the officials aimed to convey the impression that the Hospital closure resulted from the notice issued and subsequent actions taken by the Health Department. This calculated move suggests an attempt to manipulate the narrative and deflect responsibility. 

The hastily created notice lacks clarity regarding its intended recipient, omitting the name of the primary addressee. Despite this omission, copies of the notice have been dispatched to the District Health Officer. Additionally, a second copy has been directed to Dr. Chandan Ballal, the owner of Mathaa Hospital and purportedly the mastermind behind theillicit racket. 

This distribution pattern raises further questions about the transparency and sincerity of the Taluk Health Department’s actions, as it seems to be a hurried attempt to project an appearance of official communication without the necessary attention to detail and accuracy.

I have got the information that pre-dated notice has been pasted on the walls of Mathaa Hospital. I have issued a show-cause notice to Mysuru Taluk Health Officer Dr.Rajeshwari. Action will be taken after she responds to my notice. —Dr. P C Kumaraswamy, District Health Officer, Mysuru