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A public officer is expected to give his undivided allegiance to the
State at all times and on all occasions when the State has a claim on
his services and he shall not do anything which will bring his private
interest into conflict with his public duty.
It is how our Government defines the role of its workers and it has
been the characteristic of public service from the colonial days.
Thus, a public servant did not run even a poultry farm on a business
level, because he was not expected to have another deal with the public
other than his official duty.
The grant of the right of private practice to any category of public
officers is a total deviation from that principle and with respect to
the health sector, it is indeed the main cause of all its present day
ills.
It is particularly so, because no doctor can treat his patients both
as a public officer and as a general practitioner, without bringing the
two roles into conflict.
However the people’s protests over this situation and the resulting
difficulties faced by the patients are overshadowed by the mighty power
of the medical community.
Doctors use the weapon of strike to stengthen their rights but
ethically a doctor cannot neglect to treat a patient that depends on him
and if he has good reasons to refuse to treat a patient under certain
special circumstances, he could do so only if alternatives are clearly
indicated to the patient.
Any failure to do so, not only brings the profession they represent
into disrepute but also the public service as a whole.
The hospital exists for the community. To the hospital, the community
entrusts its newborns, the sick and its aged. From the hospital, the
community seeks healing, guidance and care. From the community, the
hospital seeks support, understanding and trust.
The spirit which animates the hospital is one of reverence and
dedication and above all, of selflessness. As the doctors and nurses
discharge their duty to ease the sufferer and finally save his life,
time and self are forgotten because here is man’s humanity to man.
Annually, more than three million people seek indoor treatment while
another forty million seek outdoor treatment from our Government medical
institutions and that amounts to more than sixty per cent of the
country’s patient population.
To take care of them, we have only about thirty five doctors for
hundred thousand people. So the question arises as to how our doctors
could engage on private practice as well, without having an adverse
impact on this vast official responsibility.
A Government hospital therefore, must be viewed itself as a major
element of the health-care institutions, all devoted to the same end: to
give the patient who cannot afford to pay for his medicine, the proper
care in the proper facility at the proper time.
It is the cardinal principle associated with a Government hospital,
for, it is regarded as the community health centre by the poor masses,
the medical profession and the organisation interested in the healthcare
of the poor.
The public has come to regard the hospital as the health centre of
the community because medical treatment can be obtained there at any
hour of the day or night.
Another crucial feature of private practice by Government doctors is
its impact on the practice of the general practitioner, because, most of
his patients are absorbed by the Government doctor with his influence at
the State hospital. As a result, all out-puts from our medical faculties
seek employment under the Government rather than build a practice of his
own in a field that is unattractive and dull.
Therefore, the best solution available is to make the Government
doctors full-time officers and for that the abolition of the right to
private practice is unavoidable.
DR. T.G.D. CHANDRA PERERA
- Veyangoda
I am a Bank pensioner living with my wife all by ourselves in a flat
for the past three years with nothing much to complain of.
However, the water bill received from the National Water Supply and
Drainage Board for the month of February - March last took me by
surprise with a stunning figure of Rs. 3251/28 with the shocker of a 55
meter consumption for the period February 11 to March 14, 2008.
We are the only two occupants of the apartment since coming into
occupation and our usage had never exceeded 20 meters and the charges
never reaching Rs. 100 with an average reading of 15 to 18 meters with a
monthly sum ranging from Rs. 61 to 80 throughout the entire period.
Sensing there was something radically wrong, I had the meter box
checked by an official of the Water Board who confirmed that it was
defective and that it should be replaced forthwith since the defect
would reflect to continue in the following months as well. Hence I had
the meter changed promptly and obtained the relevant meter change
document.
Armed with the meter change document along with a letter of appeal
addressed to the Chairman of the Board together with photo copies of the
tariff notices of the last one year period, I met the engineer in charge
of the Pamankada office of the Board on May 8, who having glanced
through the letter requested me to call over one month hence as the
matter had to be referred to their Head Office and for me to call on a
particular officer dealing with the subject.
With hopes of a re-adjustment of the tariff for the period, I called
on the said officer on June 10, who without much ado abruptly demanded
the receipt of the payment I had made to the Board Official who attended
to the replacement of the defective meter.
I was polite in proving a point that the meter change document was
ample documentary evidence of the defect involved and the payment
receipt was irrelevant under the context.
He curtly refused to listen and insisted that I should produce the
receipt, an item that I had not taken much care in preserving, since the
meter change document signed by one of their board officals was ample
evidence of a defective meter. The officer was point blank in his
refusal to entertain my appeal nor to issue a letter of acknowledgment.
In the meantime I have now been served with a Red Notice stating that
the water connection will be discontinued in a weeks time and I am left
with no option other than to pay this fantastic amount of more than Rs.
3,000 as tariff charges on a fabulous consumption that could not have
been consumed even by the entire inmates of this building complex of 36
apartments.
A. R. S. MAHALINGAM
- Wellawatte
The contents of the article by Kalinga Seneviratne (K.S.) ‘Why
swallow Western propaganda on Zimbabwe’ (July 12), enlightens the reader
with historical facts related to President Robert Mugabe’s career,
marked by heroism in the liberation struggle against British imperialism
and his bold action in implementing land reforms K.S. accuses Western
media for tarnishing the image of President Mugabe the arch enemy of
Western vested economic interests.
Ironically, he has proved biased in his presentation of facts in that
he has committed President Mugabe’s conduct in the elections which
marred his career. Since it is an undeniable fact that President Mugabe
shamelessly played a role a la Myanmar junta arousing worldwide protest.
As for KS reference to the role of Western media at is confusing as
well as amusing that he has not mentioned the cardinal fact highlighted
the Western propaganda which he wants us not to ‘swallow’.
The protests against President Mugabe’s refusal to accept the defeat
should not be confused with his progressive land reform which earned him
the reputation of a social reformer. It is a tragedy that corruption and
inefficiency denied the poor the benefits of the reform.
Back to the topic, I stress that ilk of K.S. provides ammunition to
Western propaganda to pose as saviours of democracy thereby, in
practical terms, serve the Western media. If we are really worried about
this situation, we should take the wind out their sails and give moral
support to the victorious Opposition in Zimbabwe.
It is just the acceptance of reality and justice, not ‘swallowing’
Western propaganda.
True, President Mugabe has been a great leader who sacrificed his
youth for the sake of his motherland and the people, heroically leading
a liberation struggle against the white rule of the British Raj and the
illegal regime of Ian Smith, in then Rhodesia.
But President Mugabe’s heroic past does not absolve him from his
erroneous past. His admirers expect him to step down gracefully and
strengthen the democracy in Zimbabwe, without leaving room for the media
with ulterior motives to capitalise.
I recall with great joy the poem written by me on the victory of the
liberation struggle led by Mugabe. ‘The guerrilla leader par excellence’
which appeared in a Sinhala weekly Yovun Janatha.
I wish President Mugabe were a realist and to step down vindicating
the sentiments I expressed in the poem on that historic day.
C. A. LENIN DIVAKARA
- via email
It is observed that at the main bus stand in Piliyandala, buses are
parked with engines running for at least 10-15 minutes, before the final
take-off.
Drivers start off the buses 10 to 15 mts early from the parking point
in the bus stand, bring them to the exit of the stand and keep the buses
parked with engines running merrily, in a queue, till the take-off
scheduled time, so that buses would fill-up with passengers.
At least a minimum of 20-25 buses take off within one hour from this
stand and all these buses use the same ploy to catch passengers.
Multiply the 15 mts by 25 buses and when accounted for 10 hours, the
wastage of fuel for a day is colossal. No one is benefited. People using
these stands are forced to inhale toxic emissions of CO2, while waiting.
I am sure this is the same scenario all over the country, as evident
from Colombo-suburb stands. I hear that there are 17,000 buses all over
the island, just imagine the colossal wastage of fuel and huge emissions
polluting the air spoiling the health of the people. Further, these
buses block the main road also, causing traffic jams, as they park on
the main road as well.
What is the big idea in keeping the bus at the exit (mouth) of the
stand or on the road-side with the engine running? If the bus is parked
peacefully inside the stand, it will gradually fill with passengers.
Then they can start off at the scheduled time and move out of the
stand immediately without wasting fuel and/or spoiling the health of the
people by emissions. Now there are two policemen permanently stationed
at the Piliyandala bus stand after the bomb blast.
They can effectively enforce the ‘move out immediately’ law.
Passengers also will get used to sit inside the bus while in the parking
lot inside the stand.
I am sure the Minister of Transport can enforce this rule
island-wide.
P. B. P.
- Piliyandala
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