Niloufer doctors fight over roster

A bitter fight is brewing in Niloufer Hospital between senior doctors Dr Lalu Prasad and Dr Ravi Kumar over attendance of post-graduate students, which has already resulted in police complaints and hurling of abuses.

At a time when seasonal diseases are at their peak and hospitals are full to the brim with patients, the fight between the doctors has been a distraction the hospital could well do without.

The issue is about the attendance roster of postgraduate students who want to be marked present on days when they were on strike protesting against the National Medical Commission Bill.

Dr Ravi Kumar, who is the head of the department at Niloufer Hospital had to clear the attendance from November 2018 to July 2019. The post-graduate students met the principal secretary in this regard and the matter was settled in the students’ favour. Once attendance is cleared, the stipend from April to September 2019 can be released. The hospital superintendent Dr Murli Krishna was to discuss the issue with Dr Ravi Kumar and send the details to the principal secretary. But as senior medical resident officer of the hospital, Dr Lalu Prasad inquired about the case and that led to a bitter exchange of words between him and Dr Kumar.

The situation became so acrimonious that both doctors approached the Nampally police station and registered complaints against each other. Dr Prasad says, “The attendance roster has been deliberately delayed by Dr Kumar. In our meetings with the superintendent, he (Dr Ravi Kumar) manhandled and abused me.”

Dr Ravi Kumar has refuted these allegations stating that he has done no such thing and it was the meddlesome attitude of Dr Prasad which has led to this situation.

The post-graduates who want their stipend to be released soon find themselves in a spot as their issue instead of being resolved has gotten more complicated.