Kathmandu, July 23 :

The government’s strategy to lure health workers to serve in the rural areas has not yielded, this time as well.

In the past two months the government promoted several health professionals including senior doctors and posted them to health centres in various districts but most of

them did not report to their designated offices and are trying to get transferred to ‘urban and accessible’ areas.

“It does not matter which party is running the government because there is massive exercise of power when it comes to doctors having their postings done in the urban and accessible areas. Nobody wants to go to the rural area,” a Ministry of Health and Population officer said.

Recently, the government posted seventh level gazetted officers including nine nurses, 10 Ayurveda doctors, 11 health inspectors and 17 doctors to various districts.

Arjun Bahadur Singh, spokesperson of the Health Ministry, said doctors and health professionals would be dispatched to their designated areas at the earliest.

He, however, denied that doctors and other health officials were pulling strings to get transferred to urban areas.

“Health is a team work and just a doctor and a nurse without a good team cannot function properly. The Ministry is considering this fact and is preparing plans to sort out the problem,” Singh said.

“The doctors will resume their jobs and the ministry will seek clarification from those who fail to do so and action would be taken against those who fail to give credible explanations,” said Singh.

Dr Nirakar Man Shrestha, chief specialist at MoHP, said the government is planning to post doctors and health officials in different parts across the country according to their service records.

Last month, the ministry took action against three level seven doctors, while 29 officers and 18 assistant level employees were terminated from their jobs for not doing their duty.

Last year the government sought applications from doctors wanting to work on contract basis in the rural areas but only five of the 30 vacancies were filled. Doctors were sent

to Mustang, Pyuthan, Salyan, Sankhuwasaba hospital and Chainpur primary health centre in August, 2005.