The Karaikal district administration has instructed the authorities of Government General Hospital to ensure return of 42 of its staff working in other hospitals within a specific timeline.
The administration has reportedly instructed the authorities not to release salaries and other benefits of the staff who did not return to their original place of appointment.
The staff had, over the years, managed to secure placements with political backing at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and Indira Gandhi Government General Hospital, and some of the Primary Health Centres within Karaikal, according to health department sources. They included doctors, nurses, radiologists and other technicians.
The tough stand of the district administration follows the public outcry over the death of a school boy at the hospital who was admitted after poisoning by the parent of a classmate, allegedly due to lapses in treatment.
The Puducherry government responded by placing under suspension the Chief Medical Officer S. Vijayakumar and Medical Officer Balaji Thiruvandadam.
Expressing solidarity with the parents of the school boy, traders in Karaikal observed a day-long bandh blaming the death on the shortage of staff at the hospital.
On their part, the doctors and nurses in Karaikal Government General Hospital staged a demonstration demanding withdrawal of the suspension of the two doctors.
The district administration's move to restore the staff strength has, by and large, been received well by the general public, according to a representative of service organisation.
"This action ought to be an augury for rectifying similar shortcomings pertaining to manpower shortage prevailing in other vital departments will also be rectified," he emphasised.
