Bengal BJP government appoints neonatologist Arun Kumar Singh as advisor

Neonatologist Arun Kumar Singh, known for his contributions to newborn care, particularly during the pandemic, was appointed as an advisor to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led West Bengal government for a two-year term, officials familiar with the decision said on Thursday.

AIIMS Jodhpur professor Arun Kumar Singh previously headed the neonatology department at Kolkata’s SSKM hospital before leaving Bengal following a 2012 transfer row. (Facebook)Originally an employee of the West Bengal health department, Singh left the state and settled in Rajasthan following differences with the then Trinamool Congress (TMC) government over a controversial transfer order in 2012, a year after the party came to power, ending the Left Front’s 34-year rule.

“Singh has been appointed as an advisor to the Bengal government for two years. The order was signed on Wednesday,” a state government official said, requesting anonymity. Singh, who is also a professor, is widely known for his pioneering work in neonatal care.

He currently heads the department of neonatology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Jodhpur. Before his current posting, Singh served as an adviser to the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram and the child health department of the Union ministry of health and family welfare.

During the Left Front’s tenure in Bengal, Singh headed the neonatology department at SSKM Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata and helped set up the century-old institution’s neonatology wing and breast milk bank. After the Trinamool Congress came to power in 2011, the health department, headed by then chief minister Mamata Banerjee, transferred Singh from SSKM to a district hospital.

The incident made headlines. Banerjee later declared SSKM the state’s top superspeciality hospital.