Senior Health official sentenced to simple imprisonment

In a first conviction for contravention of 'bio-medical waste law' by government-run hospitals in Odisha, a Jagatsinghpur court has sentenced a senior health department official of the district to six months in jail.
Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Jagatsinghpur, Alekh Chandra Pradhan convicted the then Additional District Medical Officer of Jagatsinghpur district headquarters hospital Nityananda Padhee yesterday and sentenced him to a 6-month simple imprisonment.
The court pronounced the verdict for contravention of Aection 15, Environment (protection) Act, 1986 and violation of Bio-medical waste (management and handling) rules, 1998, State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) Counsel Deb Kishore Kar said.
In 2010, when the convict was in charge of waste management of district hospital, SPCB pollution control board had detected violation of bio-medical waste law.

Hospital authorities were also directed to pay Rs 50,000 penalty for not adhering to bio-medial waste control rules.
This is the first court verdict on bio-medical waste rule violation by government-run hospitals. Twenty-one health institutes including government medical college hospitals are facing charges of violation of bio-medical waste (management and handling) rules.