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Upset by an order issued by the principal secretary, health department, government doctors in Dharwad district have threatened to quit.
In a memorandum to the CM through the deputy commissioner of Dharwad district, the members of the Karnatak Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA) have taken serious exception to the order of the principal secretary (health) which has sought to downsize the number of doctors working in districts.
Terming the order unscientific and impractical, the association said it will hamper the working of government PHCs and taluk hospitals.
The principal secretary, in his order of February 18, has cut the number of sanctioned posts of doctors in the districts. The association has pointed out that as per the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) each primary health centre should have three doctors and each taluk hospital 15 doctors.
The five taluks of Dharwad together have 33 PHCs and three taluk hospitals. At present each PHC has one doctor while taluk hospitals have three doctors each.
“Already, these PHCs and taluk hospitals are facing an acute shortage of doctors and those in service manage the units with great difficulty. When this is the situation, the principal secretary’s order reducing the number of sanctioned posts has come as a shocker. This is an insensitive order and hence deserves to be quashed immediately,” the memorandum said.
The association has also demanded the removal of the present principle secretary from the post immediately and sought appointment of a “sensitive officer’ as the principal secretary.
The association has urged the government to regularise the services of doctors appointed on an ad-hoc basis and to stop appointment on ad-hoc basis.
The agitated doctors have made it clear that it would be difficult to work with minimum staff and as such would like to be relieved from the government job from September 1, 2014 if the government failed to fulfil their demands before August 15, 2014.
Dr S M Honakeri, president of Dharwad unit of KGMOA and Dr Nimbannavar, secretary among others were present while submitting memorandum to DC Rajendra Cholan.
