However, it recently came to light that the doctor is a postgraduate medical student doing her internship at the hospital, but the health department had announced her suspension thinking that she was a medical officer.
"The woman doctor was a PG student and resident doctor, but not a permanent employee, so the state government has revoked her suspension," Dr Ramteke told Hindustan Times.
"About other three nurses – one who was permanently suspended continues - while the other two who were working on a contractual basis their service has been terminated," he added.
"Earlier, the administration had thought that she was a government employed medical officer. However, later, when they realised their mistake, they revoked her suspension," Advocate Makasare Yohan, who is representingthe doctor stated.
"My daughter is just a medical student who was stationed at the Covid ward. She has no training in fire-fighting," Rajendra Popat Shinde, father of the doctor told The Indian Express.
The doctor's family has been rallying for her release, saying that she cannot be held responsible for the deaths.
Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association and other medical students' bodies have been alleging hospital staff are being targetted so as to shift the blame from the state government.
Medical dialogues team had earlier reported that the doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff of the civil hospital in Ahmednagar went on a strike protesting against the arrest of a medical officer and three other staff nurses under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 304A (causing death by negligence).
The arrest of the medical staff was also opposed by the state chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) along with IMA and the Medical Students Network. The doctors under IMA Ahmednagar also staged protests against the arrest and started their agitation from November 8. The one-day protest led to the closing down of OPD services and elective surgeries in the hospital.
The protestors demanded the release of the arrested medical professionals. They alleged that the government was attempting to shift the blame to the medical fraternity whereas the actual cause of the fire was the negligence of the government in conducting regular fire audit and non-dispersal of funds to set up a fire safety system.
On November 11, Dr Ramkrishna Londhe, President of IMA Maharashtra and State Secretary, Dr Pankaj Bandarkar met Minister Mr Deelip Walse Patil, Health Minister Mr Rajesh Tope and handed over the demands letter over the issue.
On November 13, the IMA doctors observed Black Day by wearing black ribbons at work. In the evening they called an emergency meeting of the Action Committee and IMA leaders discussed the issues and plan of action. IMA has also threatened to go on infinite strike if the government does not initiate a proper investigation of the matter. IMA officials also meet the agitated father of the arrested female doctor and extended support to him.
Standing in solidarity with the state chapter, IMA stated, " It is extremely painful to know that the doctors and staff nurses who were involved in the medical care of the patients in the ICU have been accused with charges of negligence of the fire incident. While the specialized task departments like Fire, Electricity & PWD exist in all government institutions, action against doctors & nurses is nothing but swaying away from responsibilities by the machinery. Why doctors & nurses should be treated as scapegoats just to project some action? If doctors & nurses can be arrested without any complete inquiry & be slapped with responsibilities which they are not accountable for, it speaks volumes about the system."
Pointing out that apart from fire extinguishers, the civil hospital lacked a concrete firefighting system and allegedly had no fire sprinklers, hydrants, or even smoke detectors, IMA further added, "IMA Headquarters demands the immediate release of the student doctor, all nurses. MA HQ also demands the Maharashtra government should commence a threadbare study on this incident with the objective to formulate practical guidelines to prevent such incidents in the future for which we assure our full hearted support."
Hindustan Times reports that the government has formed a probe committee under the divisional commissioner, Nashik range, to investigate why firefighting systems were not in place at the hospital. The fire audit carried out in March this year had recommended the installation of equipment in the hospital to deal with fire incidents, adds the daily.
Presently the suspension order of the female medical officer has been revoked by the health officials. Further,he Ahmednagar police will also be recording the statement of Popatrao Pawar, sarpanch of Hirvebazar and recipient of the Padma Shri award, as he was present in the civil hospital when the fire incident broke out.
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