Extended Absence From Duty: Govt Frames One More Termination List Of Doctors

Srinagar, Dec 03: After terminating the services of 65 doctors for unauthorized extended absence from their duties, a fresh list of doctors is being framed who will be terminated from their services for remaining absent unauthorized.

There has been mounting pressure on the government to improve the health care in the state.

“This is because of complaints against doctors for their lackadaisical approach in fulfilling their duties,” the official said.

“There are around 10 more absent doctors, who have not responded to the notices from the state government’s Health and Medical Education department,” an official in health and medical education department Civil Secretariat Jammu told this KNS correspondent. “Their list is being framed and will be issued soon.”

In September, of the total 85 absent such doctors, the government, terminated services of 65 who were on roll of Health and Medical Education Department and didn’t attended their duties.

As per the sources, the concerned department on September 17, sent a final notice to these doctors, asking them to join their departments within 15 days.

Official sources in the department said that none of these doctors have responded to the notice even after the culmination of the deadline.

This year so far the government terminated 33 doctors from Kashmir’s health directorate and 32 of Jammu directorate.

Last year, around 150 doctors were terminated who failed to re-join their services while services of 100 such doctors also ended in 2016 for the same reasons. The state government earlier accorded sanction to the re-constitution of a Departmental Committee to examine the cases of doctors or any officer/official of subordinate office related to the un-authorized absence/ over-stay on deputation/study leave cases or any other.

An official of the Health Department said that notices were issued to all such doctors who had been unauthorizedly absent from their duties.

“Most of them didn’t reply to these notices following which the government terminated over 200 from their services since 2016,” the official said.

The official said these doctors have shifted to other states or gone aboard and started practice in private hospitals without informing the department.

One of the terminated notices issued to these doctors reads that, “In terms of Article 128 of J&K, CSR Vol-I, the services of following doctors are here by terminated from the respective dates of their unauthorized absence. These doctors had been absent for more than five years.”

Sources said this step has been taken as health department in J&K has been facing dearth of doctors while the terminated doctors had occupied hundreds of posts without serving here.

“The government was not able to make adequate recruitment as the state had to spend a huge sum on the terminated doctors as their salaries,” the official said.

The doctor patient ratio in J&K is 1:2104 as against the recommendations of World Health Organization (WHO) of 1:1000, which is grossly in-sufficient. (KNS)