Justice Served: Govt Doctor Forced To Run Autorickshaw to meet ends reinstated after media cry
Bangalore: A wide-spread media coverage of the plight of the government doctor running an auto-rickshaw to meet his ends, after alleged harassment meted out by IAS officers, has resulted in his reinstatement as the new District Family Welfare Officer in Koppal.
This came in compliance with the orders given by the Medical Health Minister, K Sudhakar, and Health Minister Sreeramulu, who swung into action and directed the district administration to immediately give a posting to the veteran Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Department doctor.
The case concerned the 53-year-old qualified Government doctor, Dr M H Raveendranath, who was left with no option but to turn into an auto-rickshaw driver after his salary was held for over a year in wake of alleged harassment meted out by IAS officers.
The doctor had alleged that the reason behind his plight was one of the IAS officers whom he had refused to help in 2018. Shedding light on the incident, the doctor elaborated that the IAS officer who was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Zilla panchayat during the period 2017-19, approached him to appoint his classmate as a specialist doctor under National Health Mission (NHM).
However, the doctor had refused to go against the protocol and expressed his inability to accede to his recommendation.
Triggered by denial, the IAS officer allegedly began harassing him and used to serve show-cause notices unnecessarily and verbally abused him at meetings. After his transfer, his successor continued with a similar attitude, the doctor claimed.
The officers allegedly plotted against the doctor and got him suspended by the Zilla Panchayat CEO on technical grounds on June 6, 2019, in relation to the technical tender bid evaluation. The doctor had claimed that the mistake committed in the e-tender process relating to the outsourcing of work by a clerk at the Zilla Panchayat office was intentionally put on him.
Days after the suspension, the doctor had appeal in the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal, which in October reversed the government order and ordered to be reinstated. Following the order of KAT, he was posted in a taluk hospital as a senior medical officer at Sedam General Hospital, Kalabaurgi district in December, which was a demotion for him. He once again approached KAT to direct the authorities to appoint him in a district-level hospital in January.
Despite the orders, the authorities ignored KAT's order and he did not receive any salary for 15 months and had to rely on running an auto-rickshaw to maintain his livelihood.
Also Raed: No Salary, Only Harassment: Govt Doctor Forced To Run Autorickshaw To Make Ends Meet
However, the wide-scale media coverage of the plight of the Government doctor resultantly served him justice, as the doctor has now been reinstated and will join as the new District Family Welfare Officer in Koppal.
Expressing himself, Dr Ravindranath told TNM, "I am happy with the posting. I am currently on my way to Koppal and will report to duty in the evening."
