The Bihar Health Services Association (BHSA) on Wednesday joined issue with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to question deputy chief minister and health minister Tejashwi Yadav’s statement that 705 government doctors in the state have been drawing government money while being absent from work for more than six months. BHSA, a forum of government doctors from the level of additional primary health centre to the district hospital, said the minister may have been provided with half-baked information on the issue.
“This (providing incomplete information to the health minister) is a serious issue,” said Dr Ranjeet Kumar, general secretary of BHSA.
“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,” said Dr Kumar.
He claimed that many in the list of absentee doctors, which Yadav referred to, had informed the government about their resignation, but the health department did not act. As a result, it did not have an exact count on such doctors. He also assured that BHSA would never side with doctors who absented from duty.
“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,” said Dr Abbas Hasrat, a member of BHSA from Nalanda district.
“Dr Bipin Kumar, whose name figures in the absentee list, had actually resigned and even contested the last assembly elections on a RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) ticket,” said Dr Hasrat.
The Bihar chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) was critical of the health minister’s comments on absentee doctors, and demanded a white paper from the state government last Monday on Yadav’s statement.
IMA has been critical of Yadav after he suspended Dr Binod Kumar Singh, medical superintendent of the Nalanda Medical College Hospital on October 14, a day after he found lapses in management of dengue patients during a surprise inspection of the hospital. Dr Singh was not given an opportunity to explain his stand.
The IMA found support with BHSA now joining the two issues.
“The state government ought to seriously introspect why doctors are not keen to serve the public sector,” said Dr Kumar.
The government should make doctors’ remuneration attractive, incentivise rural posting, ensure safety, improve health and education infrastructure and raise the standard of villages to a level so that a doctor feels comfortable staying there with his family, he added.
Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday blasted IMA for supporting the suspended medical superintendent. “IMA is free to go wherever it wants to and to any level (for redressal of grievance),” he said.
“This government is of the people and will work for the people… All this (demand to revoke suspension) is useless and frivolous talk… There are people with different mindsets everywhere who just want to make a noise… When you do good work, such minor obstacles will come your way. I don’t take note of them,” he added.
“You tell me, about 705 doctors in the state have been absent from work. Some are absent for 10 years, some for 12 years… Has the association once said that action should be taken against these doctors?” he asked.