Suspended Kulgam doctor says he only asked a person to wear face mask

Suspended Kulgam doctor says he only asked a person to wear face mask

Srinagar: A doctor posted in Kulgam district who was suspended by Deputy Commissioner (DC) Anantnag has maintained that the only thing he did was ask a man to wear a face mask.
Dr Nisar Ahmad Ganai told Kashmir Reader that he was suspended by DC Anantnag KK Sidha without being given the chance to even say something in his defence.
Dr Ganai, who was posted at Primary Health Centre (PHC) Saidiwara in Kulgam district, was on duty late night on June 15 when the incident took place.
“I was in the night duty room when a man walked in and approached me. The man was not wearing a face mask, as made mandatory by the administration here in Kashmir in view of the coronavirus threat,” Ganai said.
He said that an employee of the PHC, who knew the man who had walked in, said that the man was an employee of the health department.
“To this I said that he should know all the better that a face mask is mandatory,” Dr Ganai said, adding that the man walked out without any further comments, “no arguments, nothing,”
The man, as per Dr Ganai, did not return and he would have forgotten about the incident had he not received a call from his senior official, asking him to go and meet DC Anantnag.
“I did not know why I was summoned and was shocked when the DC asked me why I had refused to treat a patient,” Dr Ganai said, adding that the DC called his clerk and asked him to type a suspension letter, “without even listening to what I had to say about the whole incident.”
“Is it that I have been suspended on a mere phone call on behalf of someone?” Dr Ganai asked.
The Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) has taken up the matter with Divisional Commissioner Kashmir and other relevant authorities urging them to revoke the suspension orders.
“We have written to the Divisional Commissioner and other authorities. All that the doctor did was ask the patient or the attendant, whoever he was, to wear a face mask. How is that wrong?” Secretary of the DAK, Dr Owais, told Kashmir Reader.
Kashmir Reader talked to DC Anantnag KK Sidha, who said that the doctor should be asked the reason for not attending to the patient.

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