Bhairahawa, April 8

Lumbini Provincial Hospital, Butwal, today relieved five doctors of their responsibilities.

At the directive of Province 5 Ministry of Social Development, the hospital administration sacked five doctors namely Dr Prakriti Karki, Dr Bardan Wali, Dr Tara Prasad Sharma, Dr Subas Chandra Chaudhary and Dr Prakash Neupane.

Provincial Hospital Administrative Officer Bipin Kshetri said the hospital had fired the doctors following the ministry’s direction. The sacked doctors face multiple charges, including going out of contact for weeks without informing the hospital.

Hospital employees said the doctors had stopped reporting to duty ever since the government imposed the nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus following the second confirmed case in the country.

Medical Superintendent Dr Rajendra Prasad Khanal said health services at the hospital were badly affected after the doctors went out of contact at a time when the hospital needed their services the most. Dr Khanal said that the Ministry of Social Development had written to his office to sack the doctors for failing to report to duty.

The sacked doctors were working on contract basis at the hospital. They had been receiving salary and other benefits as per government rules and were being paid extra for overtime as well.

Meanwhile, the hospital has announced vacancies for doctors, including for the vacant doctors’ posts following their dismissal. The deadline to apply is April 12.

Sacked Dr Bardan Wali, however, said that he had quit the hospital on his own after his contract had expired and he was not informed about the contract renewal. “It is wrong to assassinate someone’s character without understanding the fact,” Dr wali said.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on April 09, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.