SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Dec 24: The Ramgarh Cantonment hospital management has sacked its medical officer in-charge Dr Shantwana Sharan on alleged charge of attending private patients at her house-based clinic.
Dr Shantwana Sharan, who is the national secretary of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Mission Pink programme, denied the allegation and said that management had taken the action under a conspiracy.
At the meeting held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Brigadier M Kumar, the Cantonment Board endorsed the dismissal proposal of Dr Shantwana Sharan.
Dr Sharan had been giving her service at the Cantonment Hospital for the last 20 years.
“It looks like an arbitrary action as the board issued an order for dismissal without slapping notice or conducting an inquiry of allegation,” said Dr Sharan.
Mission Pink programme is an ambitious project of National IMA body for bailing out adolescent girls of the country from menstrual problems. Dr Shantwana Sharan of Jharkhand has got a national award for her outstanding work in executing the project.
Interestingly, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Cantonment had raided the house of Dr Sharan on November 27 to ascertain whether she attended private patients in her house-based clinic or not.
Dr Sharan’s husband Dr Sudhir Arya, a retired senior medical officer of a coal company, runs a private clinic in his house. He lodged an FIR against the Cantonment CEO in the police station for storming his clinic without any reason.
Sources said that rattled by the FIR, the Ramgarh Cantonment official has dismissed Dr Shantwana Sharan.
The State Indian Medical Association has condemned the action against Dr Shantwana Sharan and announced to protest.
“ It is wrong to torture a senior female doctor and sack her without probe or explanation. There is not a single complaint lodged against her from any quarter about her private practice notwithstanding, she has been sacked. So, IMA would protest against it and urged the state government to intervene,” said Dr AK Singh, president Jharkhand IMA.
