By PTI

BHOPAL: A senior health department official allegedly refused to get hospitalised after being tested positive for the novel coronavirus and instead stayed at the hostel of a premier bureaucrats' training academy here, sparking allegations of certain officers 'misusing' the facility for self-quarantine.

Dr Ruby Khan, the Deputy Director in the state's Health Department, was finally admitted to a hospital on Monday after authorities at the training academy sought the help of the Bhopal district collector, according to official documents.

The academy shot off a letter to the city administration on Monday.

"She got admitted to Chirayu hospital on Monday then she sought time for packing her belongings at the academy's guest house and within two hours (of receiving the letter) she was shifted to the hospital," Joint Collector Rajesh Gupta told PTI.

Besides Dr Khan, some other senior health department officials including Principal Secretary Pallavi Jain Govil have tested positive for the virus, Social activist Ajay Dubey, in his tweet to the local administration and police, claimed 'unauthorised' use of the academy's guest house for quarantine purpose by certain civil servants.

"Some of the officers are misusing facilities at the academy for self-quarantine, thus posing a danger to the lives of staff working there. The government has not declared the academy's guest house and its hostel as a quarantine facility," Dubey said.

As many as four officials of the state government -- Anurag Jain, Additional Chief Secretary; Arvind Dubey, Deputy Secretary in the Chief Secretary's office; Sudam Khande, Chief Executive Officer, State Road Authority; and Abhishek Dubey, Additional Director, Health Department -- have been quarantined on their request at the academy's guest house, according to a letter written by R C V P Noronha Academy of Administration to the Bhopal Collector.

Also, Dr Ruby Khan was quarantined at the academy's hostel on the basis of "oral instruction" of Principal Secretary Govil, according to the letter.

"Today, I came to know that Dr Ruby Khan has been diagnosed with the Covid-19 symptoms and she has been tested positive. After that I spoke to Dr (Sudhir) Dehariya, Chief medical and Health Officer (CMHO), Bhopal. But Dr Ruby Khan was not ready to get admitted to the hospital. CMHO said that Dr Ruby Khan is not listening to him, hence you talk to senior officials," said the letter, written in Hindi, by OSD of the academy.

"Hence, you are requested to direct the officials concerned to shift Dr Ruby Khan to a hospital with necessary facilities and also to get the academy and hostel sanitised," it said.

The academy is the premier training institute for the state and central civil services officers, among others.

Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha has tweeted alleging casualness in the MP government's approach.

"Sr IAS and other officers instead of hospitalisation after being tested positive issuing health bulletins and @ChouhanShivraj tragically applauds it as courageous act-risking theirs and others lives. So callous," he tweeted.

Tankha, a Congress MP, in another tweet asked the state government to "reign in Sr officers to follow #COVID2019india guidelines. They are patients and not officers. State Human Rights Commission must take cognisance".

His tweet cited a news report that said that some of the health department officers including Govil got themselves admitted into a hospital two days after tests report confirmed coronavirus infection in them.