Flight of doctors from Bhopal Memorial Hospital & Research Centre leaves patients in the lurch

The exit of doctors and support staff from the hospital, set up for the treatment of Bhopal Gas Tragedy victims, has been a decade-long saga but a solution remains elusive

In the second week of November, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had directed the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to fill the vacant posts of doctors and paramedical staff at the Bhopal Memorial Hospital & Research Centre (BMHRC) within the next 14 days.

However, till November 30, when the court was hearing the matter — a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition regarding medical care of the Bhopal gas tragedy victims, clubbed with a contempt application — the recruitments had not been made. The ICMR told the court that it had forwarded to the Secretary, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare a proposal for improving the pay structure for doctors at the BMHRC which was set up in 2000 for the treatment of victims of the 1984 tragedy.

The flight of doctors, including experts who are crucial for providing quality treatment to the victims of the tragedy that took place 38 years ago on the night of December 2, 1984, at the BMRCH is now almost a decade-old issue.

The BMHRC administration refuses to divulge the numbers, but an earlier letter written by former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya provides a glimpse into the current situation. Quoting an earlier court order, Mr. Singh wrote that the vacant posts of medical faculties and Specialist Grade doctors was as high as 41 (i.e., over 60%) of the 68 sanctioned posts.

He further wrote that of the 18 departments, five (namely, medical gastroenterology; surgical gastroenterology; nephrology; neurology; and endocrinology) had remained closed for a long time due to the failure to recruit the requisite number of professors, associate professors and assistant professors with proper remuneration and facilities to run them.

According to those working with the victims of the world’s worst industrial disaster, on the one hand, there is a “serious lack of parity vis-à-vis remunerations offered by the BMRCH compared to other institutions, government or private”, on the other, there is little political will to resolve it.

“Until a decade ago, the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre was recognised as a national-level super specialty hospital. Today, it is a perfect example of the lack of vision. Due to the neglectful attitude of the Central government, the exodus of 10 prominent doctors and many other staff members from the hospital for the last seven-eight years has further deepened the crisis,” says Purnendu Shukla, a member of the Supreme Courts Monitoring Committee for Gas Victims.