The High Court has asked the authorities concerned to submit a list of the doctors absent in their workplaces in different upazila health complexes across Bangladesh.
It has also asked the health secretary and director general of the Directorate General of Health Services to submit the list in the form of an affidavit within the next six months, reports BSS.
The bench of Justices Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Md Ashraful Kamal passed the ruling on Tuesday, after holding a hearing on public interest litigation.
The court also issued a rule asking the authorities to respond within four weeks, explaining why it shall not declare illegal the “inaction” of the government in ensuring regular appearances of the doctors.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier this month had also sharply criticized the physicians who are not available at their workplaces at the upazila level and warned that any negligence of patients will not be accepted.
The High Court’s ruling came after the prime minister at the Physicians' Conference on October 8 said that her government had upgraded the upazila-level hospitals and posted doctors so that patients could get necessary treatment, but doctors apparently were not accountable.