By Arun Pratap Singh
Nainital, 2 Sep: The Uttarakhand Government has claimed before the Uttarakhand High Court that the state no longer faces a shortage of doctors. The government has also claimed that the process for regular appointments has commenced, and that most positions have been filled. This claim was made by the government during the hearing today of a petition seeking further extension of bonds for MBBS doctors in the state.
In response to the question put up by the court, the government stated that, as most of the positions are filled or are being filled through regular appointments, there is no justification for extending the tenures of doctors who have been appointed on contract basis.
Following the hearing, the court refused to direct the government to extend the contracts of doctors who have completed three years of service. However, the court has asked interested petitioners to submit a representation before the Director General (DG) Health in this regard.
The case was heard before a single bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari. Permanent Advocate Chandra Shekhar Rawat, representing the state government, informed the court that, in the past, there was a severe shortage of doctors in the state, hence a mandatory service bond was taken from those who studied for MBBS at subsidised fees. However, the process for regular appointments has now begun, and most positions have been filled with doctors. In such a situation, no justification remains for extending the contracts. Accepting the state government’s argument, the court stated that the bond arrangement was made only to ensure the availability of doctors in an emergency situation. If sufficient regular doctors are now available, the government cannot be compelled to extend the contracts. The court while refusing to direct the government to extend the contract period of the serving doctors, granted the petitioners the liberty to submit a representation before the Director General of Health (DG Health) for re-appointment on contract, on which a decision would be taken as per law and the rules within three months.
In the case, the petitioner doctors stated that they had studied MBBS at subsidised fees from a government medical college in Uttarakhand and, in return, had filled a bond with the state government to serve for three years. The petitioners argued that they had completed the bond period but wished to serve further in the state. On this basis, they had demanded an extension of the bond period.
The case was interestingly heard at a time when there are reports of no doctors present in many of the PHCs and CHCs of the state, particularly in the hills. There are also reports of dearth of specialist doctors in bigger government hospitals.
