Dharwad: National Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (NCPNR) head S R Hiremath has urged the minister for Medical Education Dr. Sharanprasad Patil and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to remove Dr. Dattatreya D Bant as Director of KIMS, Hubballi forthwith and take decision to fill up the post immediately as per High Court order.
Speaking to reporters here on Friday, Hiremath demanded the government to initiate actions to restore effective functioning of KIMS, recover illegal money from Dr. Bant and initiate criminal proceedings against him so that such illegal activities never happen again.
Hiremath said his study team had unearthed important documents showing illegal appointment of Dr. Bant as Director of KIMS from Jan 22, 2015. Soon after his appointment the Samaja Parivartane Samudaya (SPS) headed by himself had filed a complaint against this decision on Feb 21, 2015. Later the government had appointed a three-member enquiry committee which upheld the charges against Dr. Bant. The High Court has given significant judgement on March 16, 2017 setting aside the appointment of Dr. Bant as KIMS Director and issued an order to fill up the post, he said.
He alleged that Dr. Bant made frequent foreign visits without permission from the government and he had not declared the honorarium received in a foreign country. He availed sick leave from KIMS and went abroad to work on a project violating KCSR rules.
He lamented over government’s inaction by not heeding to the pleas against Dr. Bant and wasting valuable time.
Kappatagudda
Referring to Kappatagudda issue, Hiremath urged both CM Siddaramaiah and Gadag District In-charge Minister H K Patil to initiate urgent action by issuing a “Conservation Reserve” tag for Kappatagudda.
He urged them not to allow vested interests to create further hurdles in the issue.
