Amid pandemic, doctors assigned clerical work at Director, Research and Medical Education, Mohali

Karam Prakash
Tribune News Service
Patiala, August 21

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Amid shortage of Covid staff, 12 doctors from three government medical colleges have been assigned clerical work at the office of the Director, Research and Medical Education (DRME), Mohali.

These doctors have already been relieved from their respective workplaces to scrutinise applications for the post of paramedical staff that Baba Farid University of Health Sciences had advertised for three government medical colleges in the state. Of the 12 doctors who have been posted this month, nine are from the GMC, Patiala, two from Amritsar and one from the Ambedkar Institute of Medical Science, Mohali.

Ironically, 10 doctors have already been doing the same job at the DRME office. The authorities had faced flak for putting the doctors on office duties earlier also.

The doctors, who were getting around Rs 1.5 lakh per month and were supposed to fight the pandemic, were doing the job other than what they had been recruited for, an expert said. It has been learnt that the doctors who have been assigned clerical work were adjusted at the DRME office just to make them avoid Covid duties. A senior faculty member at the GMC, Patiala, said, “At a time when doctors were needed the most, they have been shifted to clerical jobs.” Meanwhile, Dr Avnish Kumar, DRME, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.