Private practice by Govt Doctors has lost FEEL of “social cause” & had been banned TWICE by Governor AdmsIn case Doctors relatively deserve more wages & State Exchequer can afford, pay that but no NPA

So strangely even doctors in non clinical departments in medical colleges are also paid NPA
Some Medical Assistants & Nursing staff have also started asking relaxations like PP & NPA

Daya Sagar

In response to a PIL filed by Vichar Kranti Manch International ( a voluntary social Organisation ) the J&K High Court had on 25th November 2011 had in a way quashed any relaxations in the government servant conduct rules given to the School Teachers as well as the Doctors in the Government service which were permitting them to do private tuition / private practice before or after normal duty hours. No doubt to some doctors government had not given any relaxations and to them a non practicing allowance ( 20 % ) was being given where as no any “allowance” was given to the School teachers who may not be allowed to take private tuition. But the those in medical profession considered the provision of private practice more for increasing their income and less for taking extra load for social requirements / local emergencies and hence the directions were successfully contested using legal & administrative channels. Many people have been suggesting and seeing the permission for doing private practice to doctors as major contributing factor to poor delivery of services by government hospitals. Suggestions were being made more particularly after 1980s in J&K for ‘banning’ (with drawing permission) for private practice by Government Doctors. Similarly many people had started seeing falling standards of education in government schools also for the reasons of some teachers taking more interest in ‘attracting’ students for coming to them for private tuition & the PIL of Vichar Kranti Manch International too was an action in that direction.
Before 2011 also private practice by government doctors was banned in J&K two times and at both the occasions J&K was under Governor rule but as soon as the popular government came back the affected ‘community’ got the bans lifted. Governor rule was imposed in J&K on March 7, 1986 and Mr. Jagmohan, the Governor, banned the private practice by government doctors on May 31, 1986. After that a writ ( 668/1986) was filed in J&K HC against the ban but the same was well contested by the Governor Administration and was dismissed by a Division Bench on October 17, 1986. But after the Governor’s rule , the “popular” government removed the ban vide SRO No. 42 dated January 23, 1987. SRO 42 of January 23, 1987 too had been questioned through a PIL by Sukesh Chander Khajuria . It was on 14 February, 1994 that the PIL was dismissed by J&K High Court observing, “Whether private medical practice should be allowed to doctors in government service or not is a policy matter. Policy decisions have to be taken by the Executive and not by Courts. Courts can only indicate the legal position. The legal position is that the State has power to ban private practice as well to allow it. When it will allow and when it will ban it is for the Government to decide and not for the Courts. In view of the above the writ petition lacks merit and is hereby dismissed but without any order as to costs. “
Once again J&K State came under Governor Rule/ President rule w.e.f January 19, 1990 and thereafter it was on 20th July 1995 that a powerful RDX blast rocked crowded Purani Mandi Jammu where in 21 persons killed on spot and 47 injured were reported. More disturbed with the bad state of handling the injured in the hospitals the State Administrative Council headed by the then Governor K. V. Krishna Rao decided once again on 21st July 1995 to ban private practice by government doctors in the light of allegations against some government doctors having committed dereliction of duty and SRO -196 was issued on 4th August 1995 once again banning the private practice by government doctors. During ban days it was also aired by some that governor administration was even considering undoing with the very illogical provision of paying of non practicing allowance to government doctors who are not allowed to do private practice since no other government servant is paid such allowance in lieu of not allowing them to take any private enterprise during off hours for income.
The popular government that returned in 1996, it was on 14 Jan 1997 that a local English daily reported quoting the then Health Minister Dr. Mustafa Kamal that there was no proposal to lift the ban on private practice by Government Doctors ( ” I have reports that a patient in Srinagar Medical College was given three years waiting for operation” adding ” all this is being done to exert pressure on the government”) but instead a Cabinet meeting on 14th April 1998 it was decided to again lift the ban on private practice and was hence lifted 2nd time by ‘popular’ government taking another unpopular ‘welfare’ action.
To be brief retaining the provision of private practice is more advocated by most of the doctors for increasing their income and less for any social cause, ‘some’ government doctors are in a way taking to a full-fledged commercial trade under the garb of private practice ( which has otherwise to be in principle limited to local and emergency consultations only), it is also an open secret that in general doctors in the private clinic do not handle emergencies and refer them to government hospitals, some local clinic s / nursing homes in Jammu / Srinagar are seen primarily run with the assistance of local government doctors only. Many nursing homes and clinics are running only with government doctors as consultants, the social logics appear having faded under the objective to simply increase the income.
J&K is once again under President Rule with Lt Governor as the Administrator. It is once again an opportunity to apply corrections and it can be hoped that Lt Governor Manoj Sinha who has already applied some corrections to the wrong acts of earlier popular governments like completely doing away with SRO-202 of June 3, 2015 and its shadows (the most irrational recruitment policy rules which were articulated to unfairly exploit the unemployed educated youth desperately looking for some job) shall take a very serious review of (i) age old convention of giving special relaxation only to some government doctors (inspite of their being government servants) to do Private Practice, for the reasons of sensing some social needs by the ‘elders’ but is being used by the beneficiaries to only increase their income like a a regular business enterprise, (ii) undo the prevailing totally wrong convention of paying non practicing allowance to government doctors where private practice is disallowed since government employment is not part time employment and all other government employees are debarred under conduct rules from taking to any direct / indirect business activity during off duty hours where as many in other employments may have professional capabilities for consultations/ part time jobs as well as some may have compulsions for increasing their income .And so strangely even doctors in non clinical departments in medical colleges are also paid NPA and (iii) The rules disallowing private practice to doctors in premier institutions / hospitals like PGI Medical Sciences / AIIMS need be kept focus while taking decision for doing away with relaxations in conduct rules for government doctors with the aim of doing reforms in the delivery of services to the beneficiaries by government hospitals. To be brief payment of NPA to only doctors is totally unfair , firstly it should not paid at all but if has to be paid then it should be to all government employees and at no cost Private Practice should be allowed to government doctors.
(The author is a senior journalist & a social activist and can be mailed at [email protected])