Under the health ministry, the National Health Training Center (NHTC) aims to provide more than 11,000 health workers several training programs this year in an effort to enhance the health system. But the directive has created hurdles in several areas.
Following formulation of the directive, those involved notified the Finance Ministry about the difficulties faced in carrying out the programs already sanctioned under the budget. The Finance Ministry simply replied with an order to “do as per the directive”.
“This has created confusion on whether to carry on with the program or not,” said Arjun Bahadur Singh, chief of the NHTC.
For example, the ministry is responsible for expediting training to Skilled Birth Attendants (SBA), as the government has to increase SB attended delivery to 60 percent by 2015 from the present 19 percent. In order to achieve this, it will need to train at least 8,000 SBAs by 2012.
The budget has already sanctioned the SBA training program, for which traveling and other allowances involved has also been sanctioned. But the 89th point of the directive prohibits such expenditure.
Likewise, point 52.1 of the directive states deputation should not exceed seven days. But participants from remote districts such as Kalikot would take at least seven days in travel alone just to reach the training site.
There are currently 60 days of training taking place in Bharatpur. Singh said due to the limited amounts allocated for expenses such as traveling and daily allowances, participants are having a difficult time arranging their food and lodging.
The ministry increased the allowance from Rs 300 to Rs 700 last year. But the directive’s third point states that no extra allowance, besides salary, should be given when health workers take part in training matching their regular work.
Similarly, point 69 says no meeting allowance will be given. In this situation, the ministry would not be able seek experts´ suggestions. For example, if the ministry needs to buy a Computed Tomography (CT) machine, it must first seek suggestions from concerned doctors and experts. It would be difficult to gather such experts when no allowance is given.
Point 53 of the directive says participants of the training should only stay in government guest houses or in hotels categorized by the District Administration Office. There is, in fact, no such categorization, and not all venues would have government guest houses, he says. “It’s not practical,” he said.
The directive also states the institutions cannot buy toner for electronic equipment such as computers, rather they must be refilled. Giving his own office computer as an example, Singh said, “I refilled my computer, but it is not working.” He said that controlling the expenses was a good idea, but not acknowledging the special nature of each program is unjustified.
Related story
Mental Health Crisis: Unregulated counseling trainings under sc...
