Health Minister Eatala Rajender orders probe into internship scam allegations
HYDERABAD: As allegations of high level corruption in Gandhi Hospital get murkier, Health Minister Eatala Rajender conducted a review meeting and said that authorities have been ordered to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident and submit a report. Dr Vasanth Kumar, a casualty medical officer from Gandhi Hospital, alleged that a substantial number of house surgeons managed to get certificates without doing internship, putting Dr Shravan Kumar, superintendent, Gandhi Hospital in the eye of the storm.
This allegation has been levied by multiple activists, senior doctors and even students in the past.
While most medical colleges have installed biometric systems to record attendances and the time spent in each shift, this issue still seems to plague top government medical colleges. However, superintendents do not seem to have any new provisions in place to tackle the issue. Speaking to Express, Dr B Nagender, superintendent of Gandhi Hospital said, “We currently have a biometric system only for tracking attendance for centrally posted house surgeons. We also get postings from other peripheral colleges whose attendances are recorded manually.”
He continued, “The students who joined in 2014, will be completing their session in March this year. The last day to complete all administrative work with regards to internship is February 25. If any lapses are noticed, the student will be asked to redo their entire internship, and no clearance certificate will be provided.” While, admitting that there have been loopholes previously, especially due to the manual entry of attendance, he said, “From 2014 onwards, the students sign an undertaking that puts the onus on them to have the required attendance.” The health minister also added, “Action will be taken against whoever is found guilty of any scam. Practical knowledge is important for medical students, which is why 100 per cent of internship attendance is required. Superintendents will no longer have the privilege to provide leeway for any student who does not fulfil the attendance mark.”