Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

Absenteeism among doctors plagues PHCs

By Our Special Correspondent

Hyderabad Nov. 27. Tough action against doctors for their absence at the place of posting is not a mere claim repeatedly made by the Government but a fact. A record number of 246 doctors have been dismissed from service in the State in the past two years for unauthorised absence at primary health centres (PHC) or for not reporting for duty after being posted.

Apart from this, 45 more doctors, all in Guntur district, were recently punished with stoppage of house rent and "rural'' allowances for not staying at the headquarters. The Health Minister, K. Sivaprasada Rao, gave vent to his anger at a press conference at the Indian Institute of Health and Family Welfare (IIHFW) here today at the "indifferent and irresponsible'' attitude shown by a section of doctors on one hand and lack of action by their superiors to punish them on the other. The Government's plan was to have one doctor for every 1,000 people but there was hardly one doctor for a population of 10,000 now.

While the situation is this, posted doctors were going abroad on long leave or on study leave and were unauthorisedly absent. If at all they came to the PHC, they did not work. Some doctors were even making "adjustments among themselves'' for being absent by turns. It would have been better for the public if the posts occupied by such doctors were left vacant, the Health Minister fumed. Dr. Sivaprasada Rao, however, asked the DMHOs not to leave any post vacant--be it of doctor, nurse or technician--and said they could straightaway fill them on "contract basis'' duly intimating the vacancies to the District Collector.

The Government, on its part, would encourage contrast-based recruitment as a policy by giving weightage to the contract employees during regular recruitment. The Minister said a budget of Rs 1,800 crores was set aside for health and family welfare this year and regretted that the system was still plagued by some "defects.'' Even as officials claimed achievements, there was no community satisfaction. The officials, therefore, should aim at 100% satisfaction of the public as the true yardstick of their performance, he said.

Earlier, inaugurating a two-day workshop on "Action Plan for Effective Delivery of Healthcare in AP'' at the IIHFW, organised for DMHOs, regional directors, district coordinators etc belonging to Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, East and West Godavari districts, the Minister asked the district heads to prepare action plans taking into consideration village-specific problems existing at the PHC level.

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