Mumbai, July 24 -- The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has ordered the removal of the dean of HBT Medical College and Dr RN Cooper Municipal General Hospital, Dr Sudhir Medhekar, from his position after receiving complaints of administrative irregularities. A letter issued by the deputy municipal commissioner (public health), Sharad Ughade, on Tuesday stated that all of Dr Medhekar's administrative and financial powers have been withdrawn until further orders. The BMC has also ordered an inquiry into "various irregularities found at the administrative and other levels" at the civic hospital and medical college in Juhu, the order said. Following this, Neelam Andrade, director of major BMC hospitals, will, in coordination with Ughade, perform all the responsibilities and duties of the college dean. Dr Medhekar has been asked to perform only his academic duties as the head of the department of dermatology, according to the order. "This matter is still under review. He is temporarily suspended from his duties as dean," said a BMC official, requesting anonymity. Dr Medhekar did not respond to HT's messages and calls for comment. While the BMC order did not specify the alleged irregularities, according to several sources at Cooper Hospital, contractual workers, including cleaning and clerical staff members, were not paid their salaries for the last four months. The staff members repeatedly contacted the administration regarding this, but the dean allegedly did not respond. "We suspected wrongdoing on contracts and tenders issued by him, due to which the hospital administration was suffering," said a senior BMC official, requesting anonymity. "He was not paying contractors, which led to them threatening a strike. The hospital's functioning had taken a hit. With it being one of the major hospitals in the western suburbs, it was causing a problem in medical work. He lacks administrative skills," the official added. Senior resident doctors were also allegedly not paid according to the Maharashtra government's March 2024 order increasing their stipend by Rs.10,000. This had led to severe frustration, with many doctors even writing to the state government and the BMC seeking help. Doctors who had cleared their Diplomate of National Board (DNB) in medicine and DNB diploma courses were also allegedly never handed their employment order to work as residents in the hospital. They were hired as contractual staff and worked over 12 hours, manning the shift timings of a full-time resident in the hospital, said a resident at the hospital, who requested anonymity, fearing backlash. "They are paid extremely low salaries, even around Rs.15,000, as they are contractual workers. They do not have any documentation, which has led to a problem as MDMS residents get paid at least six times more than them," added the resident. These hurdles greatly affected regular functioning at the civic hospital, with an unhappy administration adding to the manpower shortage hurdles faced regularly. "Many of the residents couldn't even threaten strikes because of the work they had to do owing to the manpower shortage," said the resident. The residents then approached deputy municipal commissioner (public health) Ughade, additional municipal commissioner (public health) Vipin Sharma, and municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani, seeking help in this regard....