Govt suspends members of District Medical Board Srinagar over death of differently abled student

Srinagar: Taking prompt action against those alleged to be responsible for the death of differently abled class 10 student in Srinagar, the Jammu and Kashmir Government today suspended three members of District Medical Board Srinagar along with Class-IV.

It is alleged that the deceased student died at the door of the board after being denied a scribe by JKBOSE to write for his class 10 exams in view of his inability to write down the paper himself due to his extremely poor health (muscular dystrophy) and disability as well.

“The sister and mother of the deceased person approached the Medical Board on November 17, 2020 and requested that the deceased be examined in the vehicle parked outside the centre due to his severe disability and lack of facilities therein in the Centre. But the deceased was not attended and when he suffered breathlessness the doctors rushed outside to attend the deceased and referred him to hospital wherein he was declared brought dead and no health worker /doctor accompanied them up to hospital,” the recommendation letter for suspension of the Board members stated.

The board members, who have been placed under suspension included Dr Neelofar, Consultant Physician at SDH Ganderbal; Dr Shuja Rashid, Medical Officer Leper Hospital and Dr Farhan Bashir, Ophthalmologist, Government Gousia Hospital Srinagar besides Ghulam Hassan, Nursing Orderly.

In an order issued by DHSK in this regard, the suspension of the board members along with Class-IV has been materialized after receiving recommendations from Additional Commissioner Kashmir.

Pertinently, the suspension order has come after Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Farooq Khan, who is also In-charge of Social Welfare Department, had asked about a factual report from Principal Secretary SWD after a video surfaced on social media in which a girl hailing from Chanapora area of Srinagar alleged that her disabled brother Suhaib died at the door of Well Mission Health Centre Jawahar Nagar Srinagar due to the “negligence and unbecoming behavior of the Medical Board doctors and staff member.” He had asked the authorities of the Education Department to take strict action against the officers and staff at BOSE who are at the default in the death of the student.