Derelict doctors
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has introduced a telephone hotline recently and has been getting calls about absentee doctors in district hospitals and health complexes. We are pleased to note that the ACC had sent teams to inspect 11 government hospitals and health complexes in eight districts (including Dhaka), and found that 92 out of 230 doctors were absent from their workplaces. The issue of doctors not being on station is old news. What is new is that the ACC has inspected government hospitals and health complexes and found out for itself that most allegations people have been lodging are true.
It is indeed sad that these medical practitioners take advantage of the culture of impunity that seems to have become normal in government service. We fully agree with the ACC that if doctors do not have the spirit to serve the people, they should leave the service. Yet, these doctors have been taking all the benefits without performing their duty, and, as the ACC team visits disclosed, 40 percent of doctors were absent from their places of duty, and instead indulging in private practice. This is corruption by any definition, and the absentee doctors must be held to account.
In this regard, we would call upon the ACC to address corruption in other areas also; in particular, the development projects, where alleged corruption is very rampant. Needless to say, corruption stifles our economic progress and must therefore be curbed. The ACC is there to be the eyes-and-ears of the government to combat the menace—a priority area laid out by the prime minister herself. As such, it should be equipped with appropriate powers if it is expected to produce results.
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