Mumbai: With the State’s public health system in a shambles, the government has ordered a crackdown on the indiscipline of medical practitioners found missing from duty in 17,000 urban and district institutions.
The government has asked all district and state heads to prepare a list of staff who left work without prior permission, travelled abroad without informing their seniors and remained absent. En masse suspension orders for the violators will be issued under Section 3 of the Maharashtra Right to Public Services Act, 2015, once a number is ascertained, senior officials said. “It has come to the government’s notice that several officers disappear during duty hours. They also remain absent without informing their seniors or travel without permission. The departments are directed to prepare a list of such violators, initiate disciplinary action and suspend them wherever needed after submitting a list to the government,” said T Kolekar, Deputy Secretary, State Health Department.
Maharashtra has created a three-tier health infrastructure to provide comprehensive health services to people. The primary tier comprises sub-centres, primary health centres, and community health centres. The sub-district hospitals spread across rural and urban and district hospitals constitute the second tier. Well-equipped medical colleges and super speciality hospitals in major cities are the third and tertiary levels respectively.
Hospital staff said the absenteeism is a result of a general lack of motivation in district and state institutions. According to a senior doctor who refused to be named, there is generally a lot of lethargy among government staff. “For years, there has been no stringent mechanism to instill discipline in the employees,” said the doctor, adding the Public Health Department is one of the most important ones and it will only help if employees become responsible. Public health activists lamented the possibility of doctors not getting enough promotions in their tenure with the government. “Doctors have plenty of opportunities in the private sector. Therefore, first and foremost, the work environment has to be improved. On the other hand, the community should be involved in giving feedback to the Public Health Department and the staff. A system has to be designed on these lines,” said public health activist Dr. Abhijit More.