17 doctors in dock for not joining duty after studies

CHANDIGARH: Seventeen Haryana doctors will face legal action for not returning to duty after completing their higher studies.
The doctors were bound to serve in government hospitals for five to 10 years or pay bond money ranging between Rs 60,000 and Rs 25 lakh after higher education. But they neither returned to duty nor deposited the money.
Director general of state health services, Dr Narinder Arora, said that the department would soon file a civil suit against the doctors in a Panchkula court for recovery of the bond money.
The state has 3,000 doctors, including 500 senior medical officers. The government allows up to 50 doctors to go for higher studies each year.
However, as per rules, if a government employee resigns without returning to duty after the study leave, he or she is required to refund double the amount of leave period salary, study allowance, fees, traveling and other expenses incurred by the government.
Many doctors, especially those going for higher education in radiology, do not return. The doctors, who are now facing action, had undergone postgraduate courses in PGIMS, Rohtak, from 1993 to 2012.
This has come to light following an audit of health department records by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), which found that 17 doctors had not paid bond money amounting to Rs 1.25 crore to the government. According to the CAG report, during their higher studies, 10 doctors got salary and and allowances amounting to Rs 49 lakh, while eight other doctors were given stipend. "This money should also be recovered from the doctors," said the report.
State government officials have informed the CAG about the action being taken against the delinquent doctors.