The ordeal of medical tests
IN 1988, while working as a document writer in the district courts, I got an opportunity to appear for a skill test and interview for the post of stenographer (ordinary grade) on an ad hoc basis in a Central Government department. After clearing both stages, I was overjoyed as I was about to become the first in my family to secure a government job. However, my happiness proved short-lived when I had to undergo a medical examination for the job.
During what was supposed to be a routine check-up, a medical officer remarked that my height didn’t match my age, and, to my surprise, suspected that I had ventricular septal defect (VSD) — a hole in the heart. The chairperson endorsed this suspicion, and my medical form came under a cloud. I was advised to undergo various tests. Fortunately, the results were negative, confirming that I was healthy.
Confident that this would resolve the issue, I submitted my test results to the medical board. Yet, despite the evidence, the medical officers refused to issue me a fitness certificate. Frustrated, I took my case to the civil surgeon, who was instructing two postgraduate medical students at the time. He asked them to examine me, and they confirmed that there were no signs of VSD. The civil surgeon then spoke to the chairman of the medical board, but the latter remained unconvinced and insisted on further testing by the head of the department.
As the necessary equipment was unavailable in the government hospital, I had to go to a private lab for an ultrasound, which was quite expensive at the time. Despite the financial burden, I completed the test, and it again confirmed that I was healthy. Finally, after much delay and unnecessary trouble, I was issued the medical fitness certificate. However, the costs of the tests amounted to more than a month’s salary, and since they were incurred before I officially joined, there was no reimbursement.
When I reported for duty, the chairperson of the selection committee inquired about my delay. During our conversation, her personal assistant revealed that the chairperson had drafted a letter to the Prime Minister, exposing how deserving candidates like me were being harassed by medical authorities over a fitness certificate. Though the letter was never sent, it highlighted how absurd the situation had become.
Later, I discovered that the candidate next in line on the waiting list had influenced the medical officer to delay my joining, hoping to secure the job for himself. It became clear that the entire medical ordeal had been orchestrated to create an opportunity for him. Though I eventually joined the post, I resigned within three months after securing a regular job at a state-run university. In the end, the waiting-list candidate got the position, revealing the ulterior motives of those involved.
I retired without the so-called ‘deficiency’ often pointed out by the bureaucratic system.
