KING C BHARATI
Jammu, Dec 10|15: The absence of work culture among government employees in Jammu and Kashmir state in particular has been a subject of numerous debates initiated by the then Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad when he tried to introduce various innovative schemes to inculcate work culture among the government employees which however remained limited to the chief minister’s office while nothing changed down the line. Prior to that it was the then Health Minister Ch Lal Singh who remained in the news mostly for taking on the doctors to make health sector easily available and compassionate for the common man. Whether one likes it or not but the fact is that common people were highly satisfied by his move even as the health department was simmering with discontent against the health minister alleging abusive language and disrespect shown towards doctors by the minister. It is also alleged that doctor’s pooled huge money during the Lok Sabha elections to make sure Lal Singh gets elected to Parliament so that they can heave a sigh of relief. That happened and the win was attributed to the doctors and health professionals who wanted to send the health minister out of the state. However as they say nothing is permanent in this world and the happy days were again to be disrupted for the medical profession with Lal Singh getting elected to state assembly and again joining as the health minister of the state. From day one the ‘Dabang’ health minister has again hogged the lime light not for his achievements but for his so called rude behavior with doctors which is still going on with one or the other allegations being leveled against him every now and then. But what we forget is that while a section is up in arms against the minister the common man is again hopeful that his days in the hospitals might change once again even though this time round that change is not visible much. The need of the hour is that the health minister gets enough support from the common man for his efforts to inculcate work culture, discipline and compassion among the medical fraternity so that an ailing person and his attendant
s get compassionate doctors and a congenial atmosphere at hospitals when he needs it the most. On the contrary what we find in hospitals is quite opposite with people particularly from far flung areas running helter-skelter to locate a doctor or any other medical professional wasting time, energy and money besides mental peace. Blaming the health minister for rude behavior is easy but the medical professionals must also understand that what they find disrespectful from the minister is exactly what they offer to the patients and attendants at hospitals when they refuse to answer the queries of the patients or use rude behavior during the interaction. One can witness this rudeness at its peak in GMC emergencies and SMGS hospital where pregnant ladies are treated like cattle without any respect or compassion. The height is that the attendants are literally herded out of the wards like sheep when doctors come on round without realization that patient needs someone near to seek answer to their queries or inform the doctor about the situation of the past day. But nobody is ready to listen to these suggestions or pleas as the doctors’ act in similar way as they accuse the minister of behaving with them. The difference here is that the minister works for the public welfare and wants doctors to be compassionate and punctual while doctors display arrogance and colonial mindset when on duty in government hospitals. Hence it is time the health minister gets appreciation and support for his strict actions so that the situation at hospitals changes once again for the benefit of the common man while the minister must also ensure that no doctors is unduly harassed or shown disrespect so that the medical profession get the respect that it needs.
