Two senior doctors posted at RIMS here recently applied for voluntary retirement and a source said “20 more were in queue”, signalling a worrying exodus of doctors from the largest and most well-known government-run hospital in the state.

Though no one is saying so openly, CM Raghubar Das’s directive in June for an ACB (Anti-Corruption Bureau) probe against doctors at RIMS doing private practice has hit a raw nerve, say insiders.

On July 6 and 10, RIMS senior professors Dr Sanjay Kumar Singh and Dr Vidyapati of medicine department applied for voluntary retirement. Both cited “personal reasons”.

An official at the hospital said Dr Singh cited his elderly parents as the reason for his opting for voluntary retirement while Dr Vidyapati cited his poor health. “But I can say the general mood among the doctors here is that of anger,” the official said.

The CM’s probe order is the real reason behind senior doctors applying for or seriously mulling voluntary retirement, though obviously no one will come to say so, said a doctor at RIMS.

He added at least 20 more senior doctors were thinking on similar lines. “The government has to take this very, very seriously, and make a special effort to reach out to the doctors, who are feeling angry and humiliated,” he said. Another source said RIMS has around 130 senior doctors, a talent pool the hospital-cum-medical college could ill afford to lose. “Doctors are short-staffed across the state, good doctors are even more rare, RIMS can’t afford an exodus.”

RIMS director Dr. D.K. Singh confirmed the development but did not comment on whether it was impact of CM’s directive for ACB probe or anything else.

“I can tell you what has been stated, I can’t guess what is on anyone’s mind. As far as I know both doctors applied for voluntary retirement due to personal reasons,” he said.

Asked whether the timing wasn’t suspicious, the RIMS director smiled. “I do not think so. But the time chosen (by the doctors) to apply for voluntary retirement does send such a message,” he said.

On ACB probe order into whether RIMS doctors were engaged in private practice, the director sided with the CM and said the directive should not be perceived negatively.

“I am a government servant. How can we be outside the purview of any ACB probe. In my opinion, this was said in the interest of poor patients who come to RIMS and the better development of RIMS. Above all, why should anyone be afraid of any probe if he or she is working honestly?” the RIMS director said.