Health staff on deputation paid salaries sans work

Mahbubnagar: The irresponsible attitude of the health department authorities in Mahbubnagar district has once again come to the fore with the district administration that deputed more than nine healthcare employees from various primary health centres to the about to be inaugurated Urban Health Centre (UHC) at Kaverammapeta village in Jadcherla mandal have been given salaries for the month of February for not doing any work. 

Earlier, District Collector Ronald Rose has released an order deputing the nine employees to the newly-set up Urban Healthcare Centre, which was about to be inaugurated last month. However, due to some inexplicable reasons, the UHC was not inaugurated and the duty doctor Dr Sheshikanth, who was deputed from Devarkadra PHC, was asked to go back to his original place. However, the remaining two staff nurses, one pharmacist, one lab technician and five ANMs, who were deputed, have neither delivered their services at the place of their deputation nor they have reported back to their original places. 

When the Hans India team tried to investigate at which place have these remaining healthcare workers have submitted their attendance, it was found that the healthcare staff have neither reported back to their original places nor they have delivered their services at the place of their deputation and yet the DMHO has given salaries to all those persons even though they not attended to their duties. 

When contacted DMHO, Mahbubnagar Dr Rajini, she said that due to some technical problems they have not operationalise the new urban centres and had asked the deputed workers to stay where they were. However, no employee who had been deputed to the Urban Health Centre have not reported back to their original place and they have not signed in the attendance registers and it is mentioned in the registers of their respective PHCs that they are on deputation. 

“The DMHO is clearly not taking any responsibility to check who is working where and whether they are signing in the register or not. All the  deputed employees have been paid salaries without attending even a single day in the UHC. This is the pathetic situation we are witnessing today,” said an official from the health department, who wished to remain anonymous. 

The general public and social organisations are also taking a serious note of the way the healthcare department is working in the district. “It has been more than a month now that the opening of the UHC was announced, but till date, neither the DMHO nor the District Collector had taken any steps to operate it. We are demanding the district authorities and the local leaders to immediately open the UHC and help people get easy access to healthcare,” said a leader of Senior Citizen’s Association from Jadcherla.