Karnataka Taluk Hospital Officials Make Patients Clean Cesspit; Suspended
According to a government order, the nurse had allegedly instructed patients known to her and their relatives to manually clean the hospital's cesspit
Haveri: A doctor and a nurse of a taluk hospital in this district were suspended pending a departmental inquiry after two patients were allegedly made to manually clean a cesspit at the hospital, officials said on Tuesday.
Administrative Medical Officer Dr Shankar Hiregowdar and Senior Nursing Officer Vanitha Kurundawad were suspended with immediate effect by the Health and Family Welfare Services department on Monday, they said.
The action was taken after photographs and videos were widely circulated on social media platforms, wherein the two patients who had come to the hospital for treatment on August 28 were allegedly cleaning the cesspit manually, officials said.
According to a government order, the nurse had allegedly instructed patients known to her and their relatives to manually clean the hospital's cesspit.
Dr Hiregowdar was found to have been responsible for allowing the incident to take place at the hospital, it said.
The Karnataka government has prohibited manual removal of human excreta and considers such acts punishable under law, it said.
A case has also been registered at Savanur Police Station in connection with the incident under section 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (that penalises any rash or negligent act that endangers human life or the personal safety of others) and relevant provisions of the law prohibiting manual removal of human excreta, the order said.
It further said that the two officials have committed serious illegal acts and dereliction of duty.
Officials have behaved in a manner "unbecoming" of government servants and have exhibited dereliction of duty, negligence, irresponsibility and illegal acts in the discharge of their duties, thereby violating the conduct rules specified under relevant provisions of the Karnataka Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 2021, they said.
The suspension was ordered to facilitate a fair and impartial departmental inquiry and to prevent possible tampering with relevant documents or influencing witnesses, it added.