Bureaucrats, police officers who double up as doctors

Express News Service

JAIPUR/PATNA/BHOPAL:  They are qualified doctors by training, but bureaucrats or police officers by profession. They had donned the white coat of medical practitioners before clearing the civil service examinations and becoming IAS or IPS officers. 

Now in this hour of crisis caused by the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, besides doing their jobs as a chief executive or a district magistrate, they take out time to visit hospitals and double up as doctors to treat Covid patients. 

Meet Manju Sheoran Jakhar, S M Thiyagrajan and Anil Kumar among others, the first two being IAS officers of the Rajasthan and Bihar cadre respectively, and the third an IPS officer in UP. All three had studied MBBS. They are now putting their medical training to good use, playing a double role with ease. 

Jakhar, a 2016 batch IAS officer, is the chief executive officer of the Udaipur District Council and oversees rural  development work under the MNREGA. She studied MBBS at the Lady Hardinge Medical College in New Delhi and also completed her MS in gynaecology before cracking the civil services exam. Given her medical background, she was assigned the work of ensuring oxygen supply to patients and to fill the gap in Covid testing facilities.

During her almost daily rounds of hospitals to ensure this, she takes out time to see patients in the wards of the RNT Medical College Hospital in Udaipur, among others. Jakhar also gives phone consultation to patients. “A lot of treatment is done on the phone itself as every family has someone or other suffering from Covid. I check their reports, symptoms and track their treatment. This will continue as I am doctor,” she said. To manage medical oxygen, her team collected data from hospitals requiring oxygen and then rationed it. 

Never forgot that I was a doc: IAS officer on Covid duty

“Our report told us that some of the hospitals had a per capita consumption of four cylinders daily, which is now reduced to two. With the same oxygen we are able to treat 200- 300 more patients without affecting the treatment quality,” said Jakhar. Nilesh Deore and Thiyagrajan are IAS officers in Bihar of the 2011 batch. While Deore is the district magistrate of Saran, Thiyagrajan is his counterpart in Darbhanga. Deore completed MBBS from the Terna Medical College and Hospital in Navi Mumbai.

“I never forgot that I am a doctor. Wherever I come across sick persons on inspection at hospitals and dedicated Covid care centres, I go through their prescription and offer advice,” he said, adding doctors often consult him whenever they face confusion.Thiyagrajan completed MBBS in 2008 from the Coimbatore Medical College and later joined the IAS. “My background has helped me in making arrangements. I advise doctors on usage of drugs, steroids and other lifesaving medicines,” he said.

Anil Kumar, a 2016 batch IPS officer of the UP cadre and currently an additional deputy commissioner with the Kanpur traffic police, was made incharge of Covid-related work a t the Kanpur Po l i c e Commissionerate. He was earlier a doctor at the Jhalawar Medical College in Rajasthan and the Hindu Rao Hospital in New Delhi before hanging up the white coat for the khaki uniform. When the second wave of the pandemic struck, a Covid care centre was opened at the hospital in the police lines.

Kumar used to sit at the flu OPD, screening patients along with Kanpur’s CMO. “With the help of the Kanpur CMO, Covid testing also started at the same OPD. It helped in early detection of the virus followed by timely home isolation or institutional treatment,” said Dr Kumar. Rajesh Sahay, SP Zonal Intelligence in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, is a 2002 batch state police service officer.

He finished MBBS from Bhopal’s MGM Medical College and MD (Anaesthesia) from Indore. Along with another doctor, he is deployed at a Covid care centre with 16 oxygen beds where he treats patients. “No doctor will ever allow the doctor in him to become dormant,” said Sahay. He has been living in self-isolation in a room of his residence since April 28, away from his family.