The government has transferred 161 senior doctors and around 600 hospital clerks in a move, sources say, aimed at weeding out corruption from the state health sector.

The health department has refused to accept that the move has anything to do with the rising number of complaints against hospital authorities. ?It?s a routine affair and we have ensured the doctors are not posted outside Calcutta,? said Jayshree Mitra, director of medical education.

As for the clerks, she added: ?We thought a change is also good for them, especially those who have remained at an institution for years.?

Insiders, however, find a clear reason behind one of the biggest transfers in recent years ? ridding the system of corruption and sloth. ?The move is aimed at sending out a message to all ? that there is no room for malpractice and complacency in health services. The authorities have taken note of the fact that many clerks neglect their duties,? said a senior official in the health department.

Of the clerks shunted out, most have either been promoted to the Upper Division category or are awaiting a lift in a few months. Among the doctors, several have remained at a particular hospital in the rank of medical officer for over eight years.

The state health authorities woke up to corruption charges after the audit department stumbled upon the fact that a section of medical officers was misusing office and manipulating papers to ensure certain companies were awarded contracts for the annual maintenance of medical gadgets.

Some doctors were also found to be prescribing drugs not available at the hospital, forcing patients to buy them from outside. ?The transfers will strike a blow to corruption that pervades the state healthcare,? said Gautam Mukherjee, of the Association of Health Service Doctors.

While the thrust has been on teaching hospitals, the rest have not been spared either. The least affected of all hospitals is SSKM, from where only 12 doctors have been transferred.

The average number of transfers from other hospitals has been 35-40, prompting a bias cry by some doctors. ?SSKM has been spared a large-scale transfer as it is a super-speciality hospital. But several departments in other hospitals, too, have similar facilities. So, why this discrimination?? asked a senior doctor.