Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: The state government Friday dismissed 408 doctors for their prolonged absence from duty without authorisation.
“The state government has dismissed 408 doctors for their long absent from duty without seeking government approval,” said an official of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). “Absence of these doctors from hospitals for a long period was severely hampering health services in government-run institutions,” the official said.
The Orissa Public Service Commission had previously given consent to the decision of the state government, according to officials in the CMO.
The process of initiating action against the doctors began in June with nearly 613 doctors across the state being served notices for leaving their place of duty for a long period without approval. Health and family welfare minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak had said the government has instituted departmental proceedings against the absentee medical officers under Rule 15 of Orissa Civil Services (Classification, Control & Appeal) Rules, 1962, for abandoning duty.
The cases of some of the doctors are under consideration. However, despite repeated notices these 408 doctors remained untraceable despite public notice being issued to them though various media, forcing the state government to decide on their sacking.
Earlier in January, the state government had dismissed 52 doctors on similar charges of abandoning duty.
This is the first time that such a large number of doctors will be dismissed. However, health department officials claim that the move will not have much impact on health services as these officials have remained absent from their posts for a long time.
Meanwhile, large-scale vacancies at government hospitals have remained a headache for the state government. To encourage doctors to work in rural areas, especially in western Orissa and the KBK region, the state government has even come up with place-based incentives. In July, it had appointed 370 doctors on ad hoc basis, though most of them did not join duty.
