GRAB A DEGREE: Left's reckless device to produce doctors.

IF district health centres have suffered from criminal neglect, the Left government has now hit upon a reckless solution: pack them with community health service officers trained 17 years ago and allow them to function as regular doctors after going through a "condensed MB (diploma) course". It creates the myth that the government has woken up to the need to promote health care in the districts where municipal and, later, assembly elections are due soon. The real objective is to promote cadres, and put them on a par with qualified doctors. The arguments that the minister, Partha De, offers does not stand up to scrutiny. Those taking the "condensed course" have the same …