Morung Express News
Dimapur| February 17
The government has issued yet another order to maintain status-quo with respect to the doctors who were posted and transferred on January 11, 2013. The Commissioner and Secretary for Health and Family Welfare, Sentiyanger Imchen, has in an order dated February 13 said that “status-quo be maintained in respect to those doctors who have joined their place of posting.” The order has been issued in pursuance of the approval of the Election Commission of India.
The posting and transfer of 60 government doctors right before the announcement of the State assembly election had caused stir among some political groups and NGOs. They stated that it was in violation of the election Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and demanded that the order be revoked. That, however, didn’t go down well with a group of doctors who cited that those claims were being made at the behest of “some doctors who didn’t want to be transferred.” They also argued that “doctors do not fall under the purview of MCC.”
It is learnt through reliable sources that all the confusion arose as a result of one senior doctor posted at a government hospital in Kohima, who, without the knowledge of other doctors, wrote a letter to the State government with a copy endorsed to the Chief Election Commissioner stating that the transfer order was in violation of the election MCC. Sources told The Morung Express that the letter was further endorsed by a national political party and sent to the Union Ministry in Delhi. Due to political pressure from the Centre, the State government went ahead and issued another order on January 30 to keep the transfer order at abeyance. The abeyance order was issued even though the Election Commission of India had written to the State government in a letter dated January 18 that the transfer order does not violate the purview of the election.
But with more than 50 doctors having already joined their place of posting and performing their duties, the government has again issued an order to maintain status-quo and the doctors who have not joined their place of posting will have to do so right after the election.
