Karnataka - Gulbarga   

Gulbarga ZP members criticise DHO’s action

GULBARGA: Members of the Gulbarga Zilla Panchayat on Wednesday took exception to termination of services of 36 doctors from Ayurveda, Unani, Siddhi and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) stream who were working on contract basis.

Deputy Commissioner Pankajkumar Pandey terminated the services of the doctors based on the recommendations of the District Health Officer (DHO) Nalini Namoshi.

The zilla panchayat members cutting across party lines took to task Dr. Namoshi for her “unilateral” action of recommending the termination of the services of the doctors and depriving medical treatment facilities to the people living in rural areas.

However, Dr. Namoshi told The Hindu that termination orders had been issued only to 14 doctors and not to 36 doctors as claimed by the panchayat members.

Leader of the Opposition Subash Rathod and other members of the panchayat said that the Deputy Commissioner during his visit to a primary health centre (PHC) had found that the AYUSH doctor posted there was not available and brought this to the notice of the DHO. The DHO issued show-cause notice to all the AYUSH doctors seeking clarification on the issue, they said.

The members said that a majority of the AYUSH doctors had not received the notice but were terminated from service.

Gurushant Pattedar of the Janata Dal (Secular) came down heavily on the style of functioning of Dr. Namoshi and said that similar action was not being taken against allopathic doctors, posted in the PHCs, who seldom stayed in the headquarters.

Mr. Pattedar said that though he had brought to the notice of the president of the panchayat and the chief executive officer the instances of doctors not attending to their duties in rural areas, no action had been taken to ensure that the doctors posted in PHCs remained in station and served the people.

The DHO had targeted the AYUSH doctors without giving them a chance to clarify their position, he said. The meeting passed a unanimous resolution requesting the Deputy Commissioner to reconsider the decision of terminating the services of the AYUSH doctors and withdraw the orders immediately.

The general body meeting also discussed in detail the drinking water shortage in some parts of the district.

The meeting also directed the District Manager of the Ambedkar Development Corporation and the Scheduled Tribe Development Corporation to cancel the list of the beneficiaries selected under the Ganga Kalyana scheme and prepare another list according to the recommendations of the zilla panchayat members.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

‘Men should help end gender disparity’
Gulbarga ZP members criticise DHO’s action

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu