Gujarat: 80 MBBS graduates served notice for ignoring COVID duty

Written by Sanchari Chattopadhyay Published On 2020-12-05T10:00:56+05:30 | Updated On 5 Dec 2020 10:00 AM IST

Gujarat: 80 MBBS graduates served notice for ignoring COVID duty

Gujarat: Following the notification from the Gujarat Health Department instructing as many as 925 MBBS graduates to be ready to get deployed in COVID duties, the Ahmedabad collector has now disclosed that 80 of the MBBS pass-outs who are eligible for immediate joining have remained absent and did not join their respective duties on the said day.

These medicos were instructed to report to Ahemdabad Civil Hospital for their training but none of them were present. The collector has now issued notices and asked the absentees to report within one week or they will have to face disciplinary action.

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Previously the Ahmedabad collector received instructions from the concerned authorities where they have been given a list of 143 MBBS graduates from Ahmedabad who were eligible to join duties as mentioned in the notification dated November 28.

As per a recent media report by Mirror, the students were supposed to report to the allocated district for rural bond services after which they are to be roped in for COVID duties under the Epidemic Disease Act.

Commenting on the process of deployment of the MBBS graduates, CDHO Dr. Shilpa Yadav told Mirror, "So far, the Ahmedabad Collectorate has got the maximum number of students to voluntarily come forward and present themselves for duty. They will first report to their PHC allotted for rural bond service and once they report there, they will be deputed to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital."

The MBBS graduates were supposed to report to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital in order to get some training before getting deployed as COVID support staff but none of them were present. Ahmedabad collector Sandeep Sagale informed that there are as many as 143 students and out of the 80 are entirely eligible to extend their services in COVID wards while 63 may be excused due to some reasons.

He told Ahemdabad Mirror, " we found 76 first and then four more so there are 80 students who could answer the call of duty but had not presented themselves to the authorities. The others had either joined postgraduate courses or had yet to serve internships. 18 were found to be COVID-19 positive and were thus excused."

On this, the collector informed that the chief district health officer already sent two notices and now the third was sent by the collector under the Epidemic Diseases Act. The collector further confirmed that the students will be given a week to report back to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. Moreover, if they fail to do they will face consequences including legal action. Previously Health commissioner Jaiprakash gave two days time to MBBS pass-outs from 2020 batches to be present for their training before getting deployed on COVID duties in Ahmedabad. However, none of the medicos have reported to the hospital yet.

Gujarat Health DepartmentMBBS studentsMBBSCOVID

Source : with inputs

Sanchari Chattopadhyay

Sanchari Chattopadhyay has pursued her M.A in English and Culture Studies from the University of Burdwan, West Bengal. She likes observing cultural specificities and exploring new places.