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Barnala doctor absconds from govt job, told to pay ₹50 lakh bond money
As per the rules, a government doctor must either serve the department for 10 years or deposit ₹50 lakh before resigning. The doctor, Dr Sahil Chhabra, had earned an MD seat on Punjab government quota and flouted the rules by not following the bond norms
The Barnala health department has told a medical specialist to pay the bond money of ₹50 lakh for leaving his job without fulfilling the required conditions.
As per the rules, a government doctor must either serve the department for 10 years or deposit ₹50 lakh before resigning. The doctor, Dr Sahil Chhabra, had earned an MD seat on Punjab government quota and flouted the rules by not following the bond norms.
Confirming the development, Barnala civil surgeon Dr Jasbir Aulakh said, “The doctor has deposited ₹25 lakh in the past week and has requested time till February next year to pay the remaining amount.”
The civil surgeon said a radiologist, who completed his MD on Punjab government quota, joined the Barnala civil hospital in 2020. However, in 2021, he remained absent without informing the authorities.
After a few months, the civil surgeon came to know that the doctor was running a diagnostic centre in Hansi town of Hisar in Haryana. A team was sent there to get documentary evidence of him running the centre. Following this, the civil surgeon got permission from the state health department to pursue a case of recovery of ₹50 lakh for violating the government bond.
It is after continuous perusal of the Barnala health department that the radiologist deposited half of the amount to the health department account this week.
The Barnala health department informed HT that they had already filed a case in Barnala judicial court for the recovery of the bond money from the radiologist. Meanwhile, Dr Chhabra could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
As of now, according to officials of the Punjab health department, several medical specialists are fearlessly working in the private sector without depositing the bond money.
Punjab health minister Dr Balbir Singh had last month said many specialist doctors had approached him to exempt them from the mandatory bond period, however, he refused to give such exemptions.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) Association, an association of government doctors, categorically insisted that the bond needs to be effectively rationalised. The association said the total bond money liability should be reduced in sync with the number of years served (after completion of the PG) in a phased manner.
