More than 100 students have completed MBBS through scholarships from the Ministry of Education (MoE) in the past few years and many more are expected to complete their studies. The number of students getting MBBS scholarship has exceeded 200 in the last three years. [break]
“They (those who get scholarships) sign a contract agreeing to serve government health institutions for two years,” said under secretary at the scholarship branch of the MoE Narayan Krishna Shrestha, adding that they are required to serve at whichever place the government deploys them. The government has even devised a mechanism to make the doctors honor the contract.
“We don´t provide No Objection Certificate (NOC), that is required for further studies, to those who don´t have a certificate issued by the DoHS showing two years of government service,” added Shrestha.
However, a data received from DoHS shockingly reveals that only one of around 250 scholarship doctors are deployed in Karnali zone while there are 31 in Bagmati against the stated policy of not deploying them in three districts of Kathmandu Valley. Narayani has 25 of them. Even the one deployed in Kalikot district of Karnali had voluntarily asked to be posted at the remote district recently.
The data shows only one doctor is deployed in Mahakali apart from the four at Mahendranagar while the districts with the most number of scholarship doctors are accessible ones. Jhapa has the most number of them at 11, while Morang and Rupandehi have nine each, and Chitwan, Makawanpur and Kailali have eight each. Jajarkot district that was ravaged by cholera epidemic last year does not have a single doctor.
Even the very few who are sent to remote districts don´t actually serve there.
“Those who go to remote places also don´t serve there for long. They go there for attendance and then arrange training or make other pretenses and stay most of the time in Kathmandu or regional headquarters,” said Under Secretary at the DoHS Bhanu Dev Badu.
A health ministry official said that there is a provision which allows those who have served in remote places to be transferred to accessible places after one year of service. Those who serve at remote places, generally, come to ask for transfers while the ministry doesn´t deem it necessary to transfer those serving at accessible places, thereby putting majority of them at comfortable postings.
The fact that the ones posted to accessible places are generally well connected is the reason the DoHS doesn´t follow-up and transfer them to remote places, the official added.
premdhakal@myrepublica.com
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