SHILLONG, APR 3: Resident doctors of the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health & Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) have called for a total shutdown of services from Thursday demanding the immediate removal of incumbent director of the institute.
The NEIGRIHMS-Resident Doctors’ Association (NRDA) has also shot a letter to the Secretary, Health Nirman Bhawan, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for immediate intervention into the grievances due to the alleged autocratic functioning of the director Dr DM Thapa.
“We have no other options left but to save this institute from further devastation, NRDA is calling a total shutdown of services from April 4 morning that will continue until the incumbent autocratic director is removed/repartriated from the post…” president of the association Dr Synrang Batngen Warjri said in the 13-points letter submitted on Wednesday.
Dr Warjri said that since the joining of the director there has been de-recognition of PG seats in series including Department of Anaesthesia, General Surgery, Radiology, and General Medicine due to administrative lack of will.
According to him, some of the seats have been recognized later and also through Court but only after losing few batches.
The NRDA chief alleged that faculties are resigning from various departments including department of medical oncology, anaesthesia, gynaecology and obstetrics, paediatric, radiology, orthopaedics.
“NEIGRIHMS is already running with acute shortage faculty and this constant resigning of faculty due to administrative letdown under the incumbent director is leading to crisis like situation in this institute which affecting the people of North East India,” he said.
He also said that some of the faculties like department of obstetrics and gynaecology, department of cardiology are being forcefully removed by the director due to reasons known only to him.
He added due to acute shortage of faculty and senior residents in department paediatrics, the department had to close NICU unit, as well as had to outsource the patient to private hospitals.
“This has created a lot of trouble for the patients of the region. It is pertinent here that the director is the appointing authority as well as approving authority of senior resident recruitment which itself is arbitrary and misuse of power,” Dr Warjri stated.
The president of the association further pointed out that due to lack of manpower in anaesthesia department, there has been drastic reduction in the number of routine operations as well as emergency OTs.
This issue has been raised by faculties from various surgical departments repeatedly. However, the issue has never been taken seriously and there are incidents where faculties were not given appointments and made to wait outside the director’s chamber for hours.
“This has discouraged faculties from surgical branches to a great extent ultimately leading to their resignation,” he said.
Meanwhile, the association has also accused the director of harassing the students through his accomplices by interfering with the examination process of students, thesis, submissions, and disbursement of salaries.
“Constant harassment and intimidation of past president, NRDA for taking up genuine issues, assassinating the character and integrity of Dr Tony Ete, a tribal student from North East region in alliance with his accomplices, who did DM, Cardiology from NEIGRIHMS itself, with the sole motive to cancel his joining in the institute after handing over appointment order and destroy his career.
This is very unbecoming of the director and a shameful act by an autocratic director. NRDA strongly believes that a teacher trying to destroy the career of his own student can never work for welfare of an institute,” Dr Warjri said.
He said demand for withdrawal of improper character, conduct, integrity certificate to Dr Tony Ete has already been made twice but not a single word of communication or assurance has been given inspite of being reminded.
Instead a memo was issued to the NRDA general secretary Dr Patrick SR Marak individually targeting him and trying to intimidate him with consequences, instead of looking for solutions, he said while adding this dictatorial attitude is the order of the day in the institute.
By Our Reporter
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