As the rise in deaths due to Covid haunts the state of Uttar Pradesh, around 14 health center chiefs in Unnao district have stepped down from their posts. Doctors have alleged harassment and ill-treatment by senior administration officials.
The announcement comes after the District Administration removed the officials who were in charge of the Fatehpur Chaurasi and Asoha primary health centers. However, the district administration has denied the allegations and claimed that the two superintendents were transferred as per policy.
The doctors who resigned were in charge of the Community Health Centers and the Primary Health Care centers providing Covid treatment in the rural areas in Unnao. The doctors have alleged that they were harassed with excessive review meetings and said they are being made the scapegoats for the rapidly increasing numbers of Covid cases in the state. They also said that ‘despite working hard during pandemic their efforts are met with baseless punitive actions and bad behavior.’
One of the doctors said, “The problem is that our teams are working hard round the clock, but it seems we are being marked out for not working. The DM, other officials, even SDM, and the tehsildar are all supervising us and holding review meetings.”
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Describing their plight, the doctor further added, “Our teams leave at noon, track and isolate Covid positive patients, get sampling done, distribute medicines and then, once we are back, we get calls from SDM asking to come for review meetings. Even if someone is posted 30 km away, he or she is bound to travel all the 30km for these review meetings. We have to prove that we have worked. It seems it is being suggested that because we are not working, the Covid infection is spreading.”
On this, government officials have said that they are looking into the matter and are finding a way to resolve it. Unnao Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Ashutosh Kumar said that he was not aware that doctors were angry with the administration and has denied all the allegations. “I have received this information about the resignation of 14 doctors. I will talk to the medical officers in charge and solve the problem. The allegations of needless pressure and mental and financial harassment are wrong, ” CMO said.