BHSA, IMA opposes Government's list of 705 absentee doctors

Patna: Days after the Bihar deputy chief minister and Health minister alleged that government doctors in the state remain absent from duty while continuing to draw a salary, the Bihar Health Services Association (BHSA) along with the Bihar Indian Medical Association branch have come up in opposition to the minister's statements. 

Yadav had stated that nearly 705 government doctors reportedly remained absent from duty for more than six months extending up to twelve years while continuing to draw salaries. Yadav said that many doctors who are posted in rural areas continue to work in the urban centres, adding that the government would take action against such doctors. 

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The health department had made a list of absentee doctors and made it public by posting it on its website and publishing advertisements in newspapers. 

Stating that the minister have been fed with half-baked information on the issue, BHSA, a forum of government doctors from the level of the additional primary health centre to the district hospital, took up the issue with his statements days after the IMA Bihar chapter also presented a similar stand.

The Indian Medical Association of Bihar had also criticized Yadav's statements on absentee doctors and had demanded a white paper from the state government. 

Dr Ranjeet Kumar, general secretary of BHSA, said, "This (providing incomplete information to the health minister) is a serious issue." He said, "It would be a contradiction if civil surgeons, deputy medical superintendents, and medical officers in charge at government facilities, who report about the absence of doctors, at the same time endorse salary payment, despite their absence from duty." 

According to Kumar, the list accessed by Yadav included names of government doctors who had already applied for resignation, but the health department did not act on it. Therefore, the list did not have the authentic count of doctors, reports the Hindustan Times. However, he also assured that BHSA would never support doctors who remain absent from duty. 

Dr Abbas Hasrat, a member of BHSA from Nalanda district said, "There are around 160 doctors in the list of 705, some of who joined as medical officers and are now doing their post-graduation or are part of the senior residency scheme, after obtaining permission. Others have resigned from government service, after being disillusioned, and are doing private practice; a few are actually working in the health secretariat, yet their name figures in the government's absentee list." 

Giving an example, Hasrat said, "Dr Bipin Kumar, whose name figures in the absentee list, had actually resigned and even contested the last assembly elections on an RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) ticket."

Stating that there are problems with the government's mechanism of identifying the absentee doctors, Ajay Kumar, a senior doctor and central committee member of the Indian Medical Association told The Telegraph, "The health department's personnel management system is very poor. Its different wings neither have any coordination nor any inkling of what they are doing. We have evidence that many doctors in the list either resigned soon after joining the service. The health department is notorious for not acting on resignation letters." 

He added, "The list also contains names of doctors who have been transferred and are currently working at other hospitals. Some have become resident doctors or taken up teaching posts at medical colleges and hospitals. Some doctors appointed as general duty medical officers have joined government duty as specialist medical officers, yet they have been counted as absent." 

IMA Bihar unit president D.S. Singh said that the government needs to focus on improving the working conditions and facilities for the doctors instead of taking action against them. Singh said, "There have been several instances where dead or retired doctors have been declared absent from service. There are around 15,000 sanctioned posts of doctors in government hospitals in Bihar, but only 7,000 have been filled up." 

Singh added, "It is wrong if any doctor, who has stopped working, is getting a salary. But why is the government giving it to them? The records, attendance, and monitoring systems are with the government, yet it is complaining about giving salaries to absent doctors. It should first put its own house in order." 

A suspension order issued by Yadav during a surprise inspection at the Patna-based Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH) had been protested by IMA Bihar after he found negligence in the treatment provided to dengue patients. Relatives of patients had complained about the non-availability of medicines. The minister ordered the suspension of Dr Vinod Kumar Singh, the medical superintendent of NMCH, over the state of affairs at the facility.

However, opposing the decision, Singh stated that the action was not justified and Bihar IMA had also expressed their support to him, which was previously reported by the Medical Dialogues team. The IMA had demanded the government revoke the suspension order. 

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