Krishnagar, July 22: A district magistrate on a surprise check on a Nadia health centre found a nurse prescribing medicines.

The doctor, who enjoys official accommodation there and should have been on duty, was missing.

Health authorities in the district have showcaused the doctor, a pharmacist and two other employees.

Onkar Singh Meena visited Belpukur primary health centre in Dhubulia, about 120km from Calcutta, yesterday morning and found Dr Sailesh Chakraborty and the others absent.

Villagers told Meena that the 20,000 residents of Belpukur rarely see him and that the nurse hands out prescriptions regularly.

After hearing the complaints, Meena called up Mrinal Kanti Biswas, Nadia’s chief medical officer of health.

“The allegation is grave. The doctor was not there when he should have been treating the patients. Besides asking them to explain their absence, I’ve initiated departmental proceedings,” said Biswas.

“We consider ourselves to be lucky if we see the doctor. On some days, he comes at 10am, but disappears by 1pm,” said Tarun Saha, a fruit seller.

The doctor apparently is a resident of Nabadwip, about 40km away, and does not stay in the quarters provided to him at the health centre.

The pharmacist, from Krishnagar, has also been given a place to stay but does not use it.

“I went to check whether a maternity clinic could be started at the hospital and stumbled on the depressing picture. I had kept my visit a secret as I wanted to see how the health centre works in the morning. The doctor told the nurse he was going out to a sub-centre to examine a patient. But when we carried out checks, he was not found even there,” Meena said.

According to Subrata Ghosh, the chief of Belpukur Gram Panchayat, several complaints were made in the past. “No action was ever taken.”

Ghosh claimed that complaints had been sent to the district magistrate’s office as well.

Prabhat Ghosh, a first-year BA stud- ent of the nearby Bethuadahari College, said whenever villagers fell seriously ill, they had to be taken to the block hospital 20km away. “Our repeated appeals to ensure the presence of a doctor at the health centre have fallen on deaf ears.”

Chief medical officer Biswas promised a change. “What happened during the DM’s visit is a pointer to the condition of health centres. We’ll try to ensure that such things do not recur.”

Biswas didn’t say as much, but his remark suggested that checks on other village hospitals could throw up many missing doctors.