TURA: A review has been sought by a social activist into the guidelines followed for the 2014 appointment of several dozen medical practitioners as AYUSH doctors, most of them hailing from neighbouring Assam, into various health centres (PHCs/CHCs) in Garo Hills. It is being alleged that many of the selected candidates obtained fake degrees from ‘dubious’ institutes and in some cases did not even belong to the Science stream.
The anomalies revolve around the appointment of doctors of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) for the centrally sponsored Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) under National Rural Health Mission.
The RBSK is an important initiative of the central government aimed at early identification and intervention for children from birth to 18 years to cover 4 ‘D’s- Defects at birth, Deficiencies, Diseases, Development delays including disability.
“The appointment orders issued by the District Medical and Health Officer cum member secretary of the District Health Society in West Garo Hills appeared to be irregular since the guideline issued by the Medical Council of India listing norms on RBSK have not been strictly followed in respect of education qualifications such as BAMS/BUMS/BHMS from respected institutions. In addition to that, process of recruitment was found to be irregular as no formal advertisement was made to maintain genuine candidates apply for the posts,” revealed petitioner Peter A Sangma of Rongsaigre (Phulbari) in his letter to the district administration seeking a probe and cancellation of the appointments.
The AYUSH doctors are appointed on a contractual basis and paid a renumeration of Rs 22,000/- each month.
Pointing out glaring anomalies in the recruitment process of AYUSH doctors, the petitioner mentioned that while minimum criteria for appointment as AYUSH doctor was a bachelor’s degree those who got selected only had diplomas, some of which were from institutions never heard of before.
It was revealed that almost 90 per cent of the selected candidates were from Assam and did not have a Science background. They were students of Arts and yet they managed to undergo medical training and even got appointed raising questions on the selection process.
“Most of the AYUSH appointees did not have a Science background which is mandatory. Even their certificates are questionable. Visit any of the health centres of hospitals where they have been appointed and one can see for himself the true picture,” mentioned a medic from Tura who witnessed some of the AYUSH practitioners ‘wisdom’ of medicine and health care.
The appointments of AYUSH doctors in Garo Hills have previously been embroiled in controversy also.
In the East and North Garo Hills districts 15 out of 19 AYUSH appointees were terminated from their contracts after it was found that many had obtained fake degrees to gain employment.
