Ranchi: Government issues guideline to regulate private practice

"The idea is to ensure doctors' presence at their respective stations during duty hours," Vidyasagar told TOI. He said the doctors cannot miss outpatient department (OPD) duty under any circumstances and not engage in private practice during duty hours.

According to sources in the department, the idea of a blanket ban which also included rolling out non-practice allowance (NPA) was dropped after initial deliberation. "It is not easy to get the doctors away from private practice at one go for it is engrained in the system," a senior health department official told TOI.

"There will also be a monitoring mechanism in place. We will set up a crackdown team, which will conduct surprise raids to check whether doctors are following the practice," he said.

However, the new regulations do not cover the Ranchi Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims) as the latter is an autonomous body. "We will form another set of guidelines to address Rims," Vidyasagar said.

The new guidelines, many believe, will be able to make little difference to private practice by doctors. Health minister Ramchandra Chandravanshi had earlier this year talked of a ban on private practice by government doctors.

But the department found no change in scenario, with four doctors being suspended in Santhal Pargana for being away for private practice on duty but were later reinstated for lack of evidence.