The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued show-cause notices to 35 postgraduate doctors at the Hinduhridaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray (HBT) Trauma Care Hospital in Jogeshwari East over irregularities in their biometric attendance.
The doctors have been given 48 hours to submit written explanations, along with supporting documents if required. The notices state that failure to respond within the stipulated period, or submission of an explanation considered unsatisfactory, could lead to disciplinary action under applicable BMC service rules.
The action was initiated following an inspection by Dr Chhaya Shinde, Dean of Dr RN Cooper Municipal General Hospital and HBT Trauma Care Hospital. According to officials familiar with the matter, irregularities were detected in the biometric attendance records of the concerned doctors.
The notices reportedly identified instances in which doctors had recorded only one biometric punch, without a corresponding entry or exit record.
The BMC has stressed that regular and accurate biometric attendance is mandatory for municipal employees and is intended to ensure discipline, punctuality and accountability. Failure to properly record attendance without prior permission or a satisfactory explanation may be treated as negligence, dereliction of duty or misconduct.
In cases where only a single punch was recorded without valid justification, the concerned day may be treated as an absence, subject to verification and applicable service rules.
The doctors facing the notices include lecturers, speciality medical consultants and bonded doctors from several departments. These include gynaecology, orthopaedics, anaesthesia, paediatrics, ENT, radiology, psychiatry, general surgery, dental, nephrology and microbiology.
Sources said doctors at the trauma hospital are expected to comply with their prescribed working hours. Lecturers and senior medical consultants are generally required to be available from 9 am to 4 pm on weekdays and from 9 am to 1 pm on Saturdays, while bonded doctors may have broader duty requirements depending on hospital needs.
The development comes amid complaints regarding the availability of doctors at the civic-run trauma hospital, which has a sizeable medical staff. Some officials and doctors familiar with the situation have alleged that certain senior doctors were reporting to the hospital to mark attendance before leaving, potentially affecting patient care.
However, these allegations are separate from the biometric attendance irregularities cited in the show-cause notices and will require verification by the civic administration.
BMC Additional Municipal Commissioner (City) Prajakta Verma-Lavangre has acknowledged concerns regarding the availability of senior doctors at civic hospitals. She said the administration was considering inquiries into such complaints and had instructed doctors to remain available at their respective hospitals during designated working hours.
Hospital deans have also been directed to ensure that medical staff remain present and available for patients as required.
The issue has raised concerns over the functioning of civic hospitals, particularly where patients depend on government facilities for timely consultations, procedures and emergency care.
The latest notices follow disciplinary action taken by the BMC against a contractual lecturer and in-charge of the Department of Medicine at HBT Trauma Care Hospital last month over alleged irregularities related to biometric attendance.
The BMC's action is part of a broader effort to strengthen attendance monitoring and ensure that doctors and other healthcare staff fulfil their assigned duties at civic hospitals.
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