Strict Legal Action for Violators, Says Minister
Bengaluru: Karnataka Medical Education Minister Dr. Sharan Prakash Patil has issued a stern warning against doctors and professors of teaching hospitals found engaging in private practice during working hours. The government will take strict legal action against those violating their duty, he stated on Monday.
Responding to a question from Congress member Balkis Banu, Dr. Patil said the government has implemented a biometric attendance-based salary system following complaints that some teaching hospital doctors and professors were skipping work to pursue private practice.
Doctors and professors are required to be present at hospitals from 9 AM to 4 PM and must mark their attendance through the biometric system four times a day—at 9 AM, 2 PM, 3 PM, and 4 PM, the minister clarified in the Assembly.
New Cancer Diagnostic Institutes in Mysuru and Hubballi
Dr. Patil also announced that the state government will soon establish Bone Marrow Aspirate and Trephine Biopsy (BMAT) institutes in Mysuru and Hubballi to improve cancer diagnostics for children. Additionally, officers at Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital have been instructed to set up BMAT facilities.
Data presented in the Assembly revealed that over 1,500 children under the age of 14 are diagnosed with cancer in Karnataka.
