India's eminent virologist, Dr Shahid Jameel, announced his resignation as chairperson of the SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium Group (INSACOG).
Dr Jameel, one of the most prominent voices throughout the pandemic, was made head of the Genomics Consortium Group, which was formed in January this year to identify the genome structure of the COVID-19 virus and track the spread of its variants.
In a text message to Reuters, Dr Jameel refused to give the reason for his resignation, while confirming that he quit on Friday, 14 May.
The announcement comes only a few days after Dr Jameel wrote a piece in The New York Times criticising the government for not paying heed to scientists' warnings. He also questioned the government for not making data accessible to scientists and the laxity in its COVID policies.