Dehradun: The Uttarakhand health department is set to dismiss more than 230 doctors from service for violating the terms of their MBBS and MD/MS bond agreements, which they signed upon admission to govt medical colleges and which required them to serve in the state for five years or pay compensation ranging from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 30 lakh, depending on the degree pursued.
The bond allows doctors to practise in other states or private institutions only after either fulfilling the five-year service condition or clearing their dues to the state to account for the subsidised cost of their medical education. However, many of those on the list were absent from duty for over five years — some of them having taken study leave and never returned — and despite repeated notices, they also did not pay the required amount, a senior health department official said.
The medical education department, which oversees the functioning of the state’s medical colleges, has now initiated recovery proceedings against the defaulters, who include 95 students from Haldwani Medical College, 83 from Srinagar Medical College, and 56 from Doon Medical College.
Health and medical education minister Dhan Singh Rawat said the conduct of these doctors constituted both a violation of bond conditions and an act of indiscipline, adding that their names would also be forwarded to the National Medical Commission. “Health is a matter of public concern. It is necessary for doctors, officers, and personnel working in this department to understand their responsibilities and perform their duties in accordance with the rules,” Rawat said.
As of Thursday, the absence of these doctors had affected healthcare primarily in the hill districts, with Chamoli (46), Nainital (41), Tehri (29), Pauri (26), Pithoragarh (25), Uttarkashi (25), Almora (16), Rudraprayag (14), Champawat (11), Bageshwar (10), and Dehradun (1) reporting vacancies.
Rawat also said that the director general of health had been directed to proceed with the dismissals, while the health secretary had been asked to seek explanations from the chief medical officers of the affected districts and from the officers-in-charge of the respective hospitals to understand why no action had previously been taken against the absentee doctors.
