It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honored by the humiliation of their fellow beings, so said Gandhi. The story fermenting inside the Medical Directorate is a story of oppression and suppression. Since April 2011, the dental surgeons working under NRHM are treated worse than the para medics. The remuneration of the MOs (Dental) is less than half of what the MOs (MBBS) are drawing. Everywhere in India, the Dental MOs are treated at par with the MBBS MOs (GDMOs). So what has gone wrong in Nagaland? Some say that it is a prestige issue. I consider it as a complete violation of the fundamental rights, fit enough to draw in the NHRC or NALSA or any other NGOs or Institutions working for human rights, to file a PIL as a part of epistolary jurisdiction to inquire into the violation or negligence by the executives of the NRHM.
Rights, as given by Laski, are claims of social life without which no man can seek to be at his best self. They help individuals develop their personality; they are claims on others, on society; they emanate from our membership of the society and as such are rewards for our obligations to others. They are always social and are never against the society, above it or before it.
Justice Bhagwati had said that fundamental rights represent the basic values cherished by the people of this country since the Vedic times and they are calculated to perfect the dignity of the individual and create conditions in every human being to develop his personality to the fullest extend. They weave a pattern of guarantee on the basic structure of human rights and impose negative obligations on the state not to encroach on individual liberty in its various dimensions. Rights are essential for our perfection as they are not gifts of the State to its citizen but are those which confirm their existence and give them perfection.
Our system of Government is such that the policy of Administration is determined by Ministers who are accountable to the Legislature. However, the actual formulation and implementation of the policy rest with the body of Civil Servants at the Directorate. In short, all Legislative proposals are formulated by Civil Servants even though these are formally introduced in the Legislative Assembly by the Ministers. The rules framed by the Civil Servants are put into force in the form in which they are formulated by the Civil Servants. So what is really happening at the Medical Directorate? A number of representations after representations have been submitted till date. How well have the Oral Health Program been presented by the Executives? Or have they ever been presented at all? Apparently, the Dental Executives have not been consulted or invited to frame their policy. The result is disgusting. The Dental Surgeons have been trampled upon and I wonder what the IDA Nagaland State branch is upto! The future generation and the Students’ Community, especially the Dental Students and Graduates, will definitely be demoralized by this policy. With this kind of Administration, clearly violating even the 1984 Act of the Indian Parliament, the Nagaland Healthcare System will degenerate.
The Executives of the NRHM need to definitely learn something from the age old civilization of India. The Indian Parliament did not simply pass an Act, in a flash of a second. They did a lot of homework before passing the Act. We should take a leaf from their Civilization. We should learn from the World’s Civilization. Study the World, learn from others and give a just system. Stop thinking that we are the centre of the Universe. Give up the old thought that the Sun revolves around the Earth. Many of the current World Civilizations have given up that thought in the past Century. It is time for us to move forward! Since April 2011, many false assurances have been presented to us. Many a time, we have been pacified and told to fight for justice diplomatically. I am glad my colleagues are working with a cool head. But unless the ugly truth is made known to the public and the World, there seems to be no solution in sight. This problem is not properly addressed by the Executive Committee of NRHM and I hold them totally responsible for not presenting our cause to the Government. It is a shame to realize that the Administrative Heads are working for the Department without knowing the definition of ‘Health’. They have gone to the extend of saying that Oral Health Program is not a National Program, while it is not so.
In other States, every Dental Graduate is made to work for the Government by a bond. I don’t really understand what has happened to our State. There is hardly any vacancy and even if there was One, NPSC is forgotten and the Posts are given by Contract under the Cover of the Dark. I say this with much reservation for my fellow Colleagues who got their State Contracts recently. I say “Congratulations” to everyone of them. But I urge the Government to give the “Contract” Posts for NPSC Examination in the near future. These Colleagues are not only strong academically but they are also much younger. Which means, they can appear for many Competitive Examinations before they overage. My only hope is that we get equal and better opportunities as mentioned in Part III, Article 16 of the Indian Constitution, regardless of who wins. Nagaland should not be captured a few well-linked individuals.
NRHM came with a relief because I was a Private Practitioner. Working hard for four years, careful that spondilitis might invade me, starting with a monthly pay of a mere Rs.5000/- I began to respect my job. Now the Loan Sharks are after my back with an investment of a little over 6 lacs. How I wish I had taken up Archery like Chekrovolu Swuro . Then I could have been able to represent Nagaland in the Olympic and earned the Government’s favour to stand tall with the Chief Minister or any other Cabinet Minister with Account Balance of a little over 25 lacs. But I am no shooter for now and I am willing to redeem my investment for NRHM. Will I survive? Working in the Private set-up has taught me a lot of lessons. It taught me also to be kind to the patients and to respect the hard earned money that comes from the Sweat of the Patient. It has made me to wonder if I can do justice to the people or to say “thank you Apo/Apvu”, “Mom and Dad you were kind to me”, and to give free treatments to the needy. We may not realize it but NRHM is a blessing to the Common People. We must learn to accept it gratefully and to give proper guided direction to the Mission. If we follow a misguided policy, our healthcare system will never grow. The Bible has taught us that our Body Parts have different functions. One part of the Body cannot say that the other part is not for the Body and vice-versa. Likewise, one part cannot be replaced by the other part. We must learn to accept the truth. It will be wise if the Specialists in different stream practice their specialty instead of ending up in the Directorate, making faulty policies. The Specialists spend the Government’s exchequer studying Surgery and then end up sitting in the Office claiming his branch of Specialty is superior to the other Branch. This trend is not healthy. If one studies Surgery, he should be made to practice Surgery. Surgical Specialists cannot do justice by practicing Health Care Management or Administration, which is a totally different Subject. Likewise, an Apple should know that he is an Apple. He should not claim to be a Mango while he is an Apple. If everyone does what he is assigned by virtue of his knowledge or degree, Nagaland will progress. Otherwise, we might never wake up from the deepest slumber. God forbid.
The latest move by the Government to reinstate NCS officer as Mission Director to the NRHM is a welcome move. This IAS or NCS Cadres are better placed for Administration. They understand the importance of lawful policies. They also have respect for the Laws unlike the selfish and arrogant “top of the World” Medicos. I hope IAS/NCS Administrators do better justice to the downtrodden. I wish the newly posted Commissioner and Secretary, Additional Secretary and Mission Director of NRHM all success! The Administration trained Cadres must claim what is rightfully theirs, and the surgically trained Cadres must practice what is rightfully their profession. It cannot be replaced by anyone else. If all the Dental Surgeons start practicing Obstetrics and Gynecology, and if all the GDMOs start practicing Neurosurgery, and if all the English Teachers start teaching Music; if all Agriculture graduates start engineering Electronics, and if all Politicians become tourists, and if all Bannana trees start bearing grapes, how amazing is our Nagaland going to be?
Dr.E.Aremo Yanthan
Medical officer (dental)
CHC Pungro
