New Delhi: In a heartbreaking development in the midst of pandemic, as many as 14 government doctors serving as in-charge of primary and community health centres in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh have stepped down from this posts, alleging misbehavior and mental harassment at the hands of government officers.
The community and primary healthcare centres are primarily looking after the outbreak and control of Covid-19 in villages.
The fourteen doctors, who are in-charge of CHCs and PHCs here, submitted their resignation letters at the CMO office on Wednesday evening.
The doctors have also their resignation letters to Additional Health Secretary level and have claimed that they are being made scapegoat for the spread of infection in villages.
The doctors have claimed that they were being subjected to punitive orders, indecent behaviour and non-cooperation by the senior officials in the administration.
Despite slogging hard for hours during the Covid-19 pandemic, they are being subjected to punitive action by the officials, they claimed.
The doctors also allege that the administrative officials were taking penal action against their colleagues without any explanation or discussion.
Harassed & hauled up by officials?
The doctors say that the DM, other officials, even the SDM and tehsildar are all supervising them and holding review meetings.
Dr Sharad Vaishya, one of the signatories to the resignation letter, told a portal, “Their teams leave at noon, track and isolate Covid-19 positive patients, get their sampling done, distribute medicines and then later they get calls from SDM to attend review meetings.”
“Even if someone is posted 30 km away, he or she is bound to travel all the 30 km for these review meetings,” he said, adding that they “have to prove that we have worked”.
Unnao: Some CHC (Community Health Center) and PHC (Primary Health Centre) incharges who had tendered their resignations yesterday, withdrew the same today.
Unnao DM says, “CMO & ACMOs have spoken to them. Issue will be resolved soon. We’ll solve their issues through talks.” pic.twitter.com/gx6s3fNBRZ
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 13, 2021
However, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Ashutosh Kumar has dismissed all the claims and said all the doctors have returned to their work.
In the last 24 hours, Uttar Pradesh recorded 18,023 new cases and 326 deaths. The state is the fourth worst-hit region by Covid-19 in India.
