BAD PRECEDENCE
There is dire need to amend the policy of recruitment of medicos in the UT of J&K because after every few years a flock of employee doctors prefer to leave the job without following the desired procedure thus forcing the government to take action and terminate them all. In this matter, the common man who is dependent on the services of the aforesaid doctors suffer much because these doctors’ unauthorized absence directly affects the health services especially in the rural areas where already the people are confronting with poor healthcare facilities as the condition of healthcare institutions is dismal and truancy on account of medicos further deteriorates the situation. Like in other cases in the past, the J&K government has gone tough again in the matter of doctors’ unauthorized absence from duty by terminating over 110 of them for not reporting to duties for a long time. In separate orders issued in this regard, the doctors have been dismissed from the job thus paving way for others to join duties and provide succor to the hapless population which is facing miseries despite having no fault. What is necessary for the government is to come up with a comprehensive policy which can ensure that no doctor serving in the UT Government could leave the job without completing certain specific years in the service because leaving the job midway creates many problems for the health department. In the present orders of termination, 112 medical officers, Consultant Surgeon and B-Grade Specialists have been shunted out for not responding to notices issued to them with regard to unauthorized absence. The reason behind the majority of doctors leaving the job in such a way is their approach to get the same in the private sector which is more lucrative and many leaving the country for better fortune overseas. Although government cannot stop the medicos from leaving the jobs in this way but if certain clauses were constituted during the time of their appointments surely these medicos can be stopped from dodging the health department and the people in this way which is unwarranted as the government will now have to repeat the entire recruitment process to get new doctors for serving in the field.