In a stern warning to truant government doctors and teachers, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said they will be sacked if they are not found at their workplaces.
“Tough measures will be taken against those who take up jobs but don’t turn up at their workplaces,” she said in Parliament in reply to a question by Chittagong MP Nazrul Islam Chowdhury on Wednesday.
She pointed to the system of ad hoc appointment of doctors and said many of them stay in the capital instead of being at their appointed place of duty.
“These people don’t have to work,” she made clear.
She also said teachers stay in their postings in remote areas in case of private sector jobs but seemed to suffer psychological setbacks if denied jobs in city government institutions.
“Same goes for the teachers. Their tendency is to stay if it’s a private job, but if it’s a government job they apparently feel ashamed if they are not living in the city,” she said.
Absentee doctors have long plagued the system. Health Minister Mohammad Nasim has issued repeated warnings, and so did his predecessor, AFM Ruhal Haque.
The prime minister discussed incentives for medics posted in remote places at a meeting of the National Health Council last month.
In reply to another question, she dismissed the suggestion of raising the age limit for government jobs.
Students from various institutions are campaigning to have the ceiling raised to 32 years.
“They don’t learn as much once they reach that age,” Hasina said, advising government job seekers to study hard.
Source: Bd news24
