Vijayawada: Doctors demand action against JC for outbursts

Vijayawada: Taking strong exception to the outbursts of Joint Collector of East Godavari ChekuriKirthi against the district immunisation officer Dr Lakshmi in a teleconference, the Andhra Pradesh Government Doctors Association (APGDA) said in a statement here on Monday that it was unbecoming of an IAS officer to publicly humiliate a senior medical officer.

Dr P Shyam Sundar, general secretary of APDGA, deplored the threatening voice of the joint collector that charge-memo would be issued against the senior doctor.

Demanding apology from the IAS officer, Dr Shyam Sundar also demanded that the GO No 64 which empowered the joint collectors to control the doctors should be immediately withdrawn.

The general secretary demanded the government to issue a show-cause notice to the joint collector, if it treats all the employees equal and the administration was transparent.

He said that the doctors have been working in difficult situations without minimal facilities and all the powers were vested with the IAS officers.

He recalled that recently the Commissioner of Family Welfare also likened the medical fraternity to donkeys and cracked jokes against them. The joint collector of Anantapuram also hurled abuses on the district medical and health officer. The Guntur district collector got angry with a senior doctor and even ordered his arrest. He wondered what kind of message these IAS officers are giving to society by degrading the doctors.

He demanded the intervention of the Chief Minister in the matter and do justice to the doctor fraternity. The doctors should be treated as a separate wing and the control of the IAS officers should be removed. He also demanded immediate withdrawal of the GO No 64 in the larger interest of the doctor community.