Reports from reliable sources say that out of a total strength of 1471 doctors in Kashmir division, 600 are absent from for last two years. 90 doctors are serving abroad without authorization. There are some most privileged ones among them who have been sitting in the Government Medical College Srinagar for last twenty years or more by manoeuvring their stay through political clout. This is despite the standing rule of the Health Services Department that no doctor will be given a station for more than three years.
This flagrant violation of rules and this rank nepotism is allowed to be in place because of political intervention. Doctors manage political support at the cost of public health. No doctor is willing to move to rural areas just because in towns and cities they make quick buck. There is large scale shortage of doctors and surgeons in almost all district hospitals in Kashmir but the privileged doctors are either absent without permission or posted for long in the towns. No less a person than the Director of Health Services Kashmir has conceded that there are large absentees from the department which is adversely affecting the efficiency and delivery of medical services. The Government should strictly enforce the rule of three year stay for the doctors and dismantle the political support structure which many doctors have built to maintain their status as privileged ones.
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