Doctors as indentured labor

It is as harebrained a scheme as there was ever one. The need of the hour is to increase the number of doctors. Already there are signs of diminishing interest in the medical colleges. The problems are two fold: the various socialist antics has increased the uncertainty in the profession. Secondly, given the booming IT/ITeS/BPO/Finance etc. sectors, there is a natural migration to those professions.

So, how does our esteemed Minister for Health fix it? By making it more difficult and less remunerative for those pursuing medical studies. Needless to say if the overall number decreases, good luck staffing your rural health clinics.

Apart from the obvious economics, there are serious ethical questions. Even countries that have mandatory military service have better and more logical drafting rules. What about the already enrolled students who didn't have any inkling of this while signing up? How do you change the rules mid-game? Of course there is nothing new to this behavior. There have been absurdities galore in this fascist regime.

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Apart from chasing after film stars and fizzy drink companies, not to mention his vindictive campaign for the removal of Dr. Venugopal, our health minister has achieved precious little.

Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss' obsession with the affairs of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the Capital is proving to be a bane for the six new hospitals proposed to be set up on the lines of the institute. The slackness of the Ministry in executing such a high profile project reflects in the poor utilisation of funds. In the current financial year, the Ministry has utilised only Rs 46 lakh against the actual allocation of Rs 150 crore under the plan head.

Even last year only Rs 6.27 crore was spent against the allocation of Rs 75 crore. The Ministry's Super Speciality Hospital (SSH) Cell, that handles all the projects, had utilised only Rs 2.52 crore against the allocation of Rs 256 crore in 2005-06. Given the pace of physical progress, one wonders if the Ministry would be able to meet the deadline of 2010 to complete all new super-speciality hospitals. Even the detailed project reports (DPRs) have not yet been prepared.

The Centre had planned to spend Rs 2,541 crore during the 10th Plan ending March 2006-07 on the projects conceived and announced by the NDA Government in February 2004. Less than Rs 10 crore has been utilised so far. "There is conspicuous delay in the project. The deadline would not be met. The new deadline would be decided only after the DPRs are approved by the Ministry's expert group and is referred to the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC). The total cost would also go up from earlier estimation of Rs 4,158 crore," a Ministry official said.

Needless to say, these numbers only get blank stares from people claiming to be friends of the poor. Imagine that, the bugger spent all this time chasing the director of one AIIMS while he could have six more of similar hospitals.