Suri, Dec. 6: Two ophthalmologists of the sadar hospital here were transferred to a rural facility today because they had not performed a single operation in free eye camps in three months.

Under the National Programme to Control Blindness, Pranab Singha Roy and Sabyasachi Majumdar should have conducted at least 50 surgeries during the period.

Birbhum district magistrate Khalil Ahmed said the decision to transfer the eye specialists was taken at a meeting of the district health and family welfare society.

Director of health services Prabhakar Chatterjee said they would work as ordinary doctors at the rural hospital in Dubrajpur as it is not equipped with specialised eyecare facilities.

The duo was served transfer notices this morning and asked to join the rural hospital by Friday.

Their colleagues, owing allegiance to the Association of Health Services Doctors, gheraoed district chief medical officer of health Shyam- apada Basak to protest the transfers. “They warned that the healthcare set-up would be paralysed if the orders were not revoked,” Basak said.

The punished doctors were not available for comment.