Proposal to drop case against IGIMS docs
2 min readPatna: A proposal will be raised in the upcoming meeting of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) body of governors according to which charges against six doctors found indulging in private practice will be dropped for lack of evidence.
The meeting is scheduled to be held on Tuesdsay.
The state health minister chairs the governing body of the premier hospital and principal secretary, health, is one of its members. Though IGIMS is an autonomous body on the lines of that in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, but it is governed by the governors’ body, which the health minister heads.
Doctors of IGIMS are entitled to non-practising allowance (NPA) on the lines of that paid to their AIIMS counterparts. That implies IGIMS doctors can’t go for private practice and any violation will be illegal.
IGIMS doctors get around Rs 25,000 to Rs 35,000 as NPA in addition to their salary, which varies from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.4 lakh depending upon seniority. The doctors of other medical college hospitals, including PMCH and NMCH, don’t get NPA owing to which they are free to practise privately but not during duty hours at their respective government health facilities.
One of the IGIMS governors’ body members said: “The allegation of private practice on six IGIMS doctors is as old as 2014. A three-member team of the health department had randomly raided their private clinics the same year. While 29 doctors were under the scanner, six were caught red-handed. They were from different departments, including orthopaedic, gastroenterology, gynaecology, ophthalmology and anaesthesiology.”
Courtesy: The Telegraph
