SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Oct 6: The Jharkhand chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has failed to give a proposal for an amendment in the controversial Clinical Establishment Act (CES) to the state government at the scheduled time.
The health department had last month (in September) sought a draft proposal from the IMA for an amendment to the controversial Clinical Establishment Act at the meeting. But IMA so far has been able to hand over the draft proposal.
Sources said the IMA state body had assigned Hospitals Board of India (Jharkhand chapter) President Dr RS Das (Ranchi) and secretary Dr Sushil Kumar Singh (Dhanbad) the task to prepare the proposal after going through the CEA of other states. However, the Hospital Board of India Jharkhand chapter has yet to prepare the draft.
The IMA state body became speechless when Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Health Arun Kumar Singh demanded the proposal draft. Sources said that on September 29 at Dhanbad circuit house, the ACS health sought the draft when IMA state president Dr A K Singh and Dhanbad chapter president Dr Major Chandan met him.
Though the IMA president had gone to meet as a courtesy, the ACS pointed out that IMA had not submitted a draft proposal for amendment to the Clinical Establishment Act so that the government can initiate steps.
IMA Jharkhand president Dr AK Singh admitted that the ACS health put him on the back foot for not submitting the proposal.
“I had gone to meet him (ACS) as he had come to Dhanbad. I did not raise any issue with him as it was a courtesy visit. But he himself raised the long pending Clinical Establishment Act amendment demand of the IMA and said that the doctors’ body did not put up so far,” said Dr Singh.
IMA president said that he has no information whether Dr RS Das and Dr Sushil Kumar submitted the proposal for amendment to the government or not. “I will inquire about it from Dr Das,“ he said.
An IMA member of Ranchi said that ACS health Arun Kumar Singh has exposed the IMA officials to how serious they are about problems of doctors and hospitals. IMA had been demanding amendment to the Act for a long time but when the government agreed to it, the office-bearers failed to work in that direction.
Sources said IMA president Dr AK Singh and secretary Dr Pradeep Kumar Singh had given a copy of the Clinical Establishment Act of over a dozen states including Haryana, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra to the two-men committee to study and prepare a draft in the context of Jharkhand hospitals and doctors for amendment. Dr RS Das and Dr Sushil Kumar Singh have yet to submit.
It is noteworthy that the Clinical Establishment Act is a burning issue in Jharkhand as several doctors and hospitals in Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and other parts of the state have been punished in the name of this Act. Dr OP Anand and Dr Rajesh Mohanti in Jamshedpur were in jail for several months. Even their hospitals had to be shut down. In Dhanbad, Chakraborty Nursing Home remained closed for several months. Dr D Chakraborty had also gone into hiding to avoid arrest.
