Sisodia appointed 'nodal minister' for Covid management

New Delhi, April 16 (IANS) In view of the alarming situation due to the continued surge in coronavirus cases in the national capital, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was on Friday given additional charge of 'Nodal Minister' for Covid-19 management.

The decision was taken by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a meeting on Friday.

In his first decision, Sisodia has appointed 10 senior officials as 'nodal officers'. "To ensure better patient management and quick decision making, 10 IAS officers have been appointed as nodal officers for Delhi government hospitals. Each officer shall be stationed at their respective hospital and ensure a robust and effective public grievances system also," Sisodia said.

The officials appointed as nodal officers are Arava Gopi Krishna (LNJP), Vikram Malik (GTB and Rajiv Gandhi Hospital), Sonal Swaroop (Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital), Satendra Dursawat (Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital), Awanish Kumar (Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital), Himanshu Gupta (Ambedkar Nagar Hospital), R Meneka (Sanjay Gandhi Hospital), Ramesh Verma (Burari Hospital), Rahul Singh (Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital) and Bhupesh Chaudhary (Acharya Shri Bikshu Hospital).

"The officer will be in-charge of the Covid -19 hospitals assigned to them and will exercise general superintendence, directions and control over the functioning of the hospitals and MS/MD/Director of the hospital would obtain concurrence of all decisions relating to COVID management from the respective nodal officer," the order issued by the Delhi government read.

It said, "Nodal officers shall also be responsible for efficient and effective handling of complaints pertaining to their respective hospitals."

Along with this, Sisodia chaired a meeting with senior doctors and medical staff in Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital along with Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain.

LNJP, a Delhi government-run hospital, has been at the forefront of the battle against Covid-19.