Refusal to allow spending on publicity of mohalla clinics cost Punjab IAS officer Ajoy Sharma dearly when he was transferred out of the health department late on Friday. The development came just days ahead of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's plan to formally inaugurate more mohalla clinics in the state. Sharma, who was posted as Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare, and Finance Commissioner (Taxation), was transferred out of both the departments. He has not been given any posting yet. Vikas Partap was handed over the charge of Finance Commissioner (Taxation), while V K Meena was made in charge of department of health. Sharma was the officer behind 75 mohalla clinics that were set up before the last Independence Day. More such mohalla clinics would be inaugurated next week. Sources said that in two different meetings, Sharma was asked to allow spending of Rs 30 crore on publicity from the health budget. He is however learnt to have refused to sanction the amount stating that the department had already spent Rs 10 crore for setting up mohalla clinics and he would not be able to justify spending another Rs 30 crore for publicising the scheme in states like Tamil Nadu. Had it been for Punjab, then it would have been different as people from the state would have benefited from this publicity. But in this case, the money was to be spent in the states in South India. He is learnt to have said that residents of Tamil Nadu would not benefit from mohalla clinics in Punjab. Hence, the money spent on publicising in those states did not mean anything. Especially when the state had spent Rs 10 crore on setting up of the clinics, how could it justify an expenditure of Rs 30 crore on advertisement. His latest refusal came on Friday when Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua chaired the meeting. “Sharma refused to budge. He said he would not do this.” a source said. And so, he was transferred out of both the departments by the end of the day. The government issued the transfer orders late in the evening. Janjua, however, denied all these reports. “Ajoy Sharma is a good officer. He will get new posting next week. These are routine transfers. These keep happening,” the chief secretary said.
