Governor NN Vohra has directed Health Secretary Dr MK Bhandari to ensure speedy and strict action, including termination of services, against doctors who remain unauthorisedly absent from duty at any point of time.
He also directed Dr Bhandari to issue orders for withdrawing doctors who have been attached at any station, including Delhi, without availability of posts or are superfluous without any actual requirement or availability of posts.
The Governor passed these directions at a detailed review of the Health and Medical Education Department in a meeting held here.
Besides top officials, the meeting was attended by Parvez Dewan, Adviser to Governor.
Vohra directed that the Health Department should urgently draw up a policy for the placement of doctors based on the period of their service in difficult areas of the state.
He directed the Health Secretary to take immediate action for ensuring that all doctors who are appointed to government services join duty within the prescribed period and take warranted action immediately against every defaulter.
In this context, the Governor asked Parvez Dewan to urgently evolve a policy for incentivising doctors who serve in difficult areas by providing them avenues for dedicated postgraduation slots as departmental candidates, rotation in postings depending upon their period of service in the relatively difficult areas and preferential postings at home stations or other convenient locations, etc.
He directed that the Health Secretary should follow a policy for filling the posts of medical officers to be posted in medical colleges and other departments like police, prisons, etc, by ensuring their systematic rotation without compromising the manpower availability in the Health Department. Such a policy should also be publicised.
The Governor urged Dewan to urgently undertake an objective view about the detailed review and discussions with all stakeholders to evolve an objective view about the government doctors undertaking private practice.
The Governor shall take a meeting by the end of this month to discuss and finalise Adviser’s recommendations.