The Jharkhand government has rushed to fill up the vacant posts of doctors in all five medical colleges before imposition of model code of conduct for assembly elections in the state which are scheduled in November-December this year.
The poll notification is expected to be issued by the end of this month or first week of November.
Keeping this in mind, the state government has called for walk-in interviews on Wednesday (October 23) at Namkum in Ranchi for direct appointment of 81 doctors (senior residents /tutors) in 17 departments for all five hospitals of medical colleges.
As per the vacancy notification issued by deputy secretary (health, medical education and family welfare) Abhishek Srivastava, the highest requirement (11 tutors) is in biochemistry followed by anatomy (10 tutors) and physiology (9 tutors). Besides it, six senior residents each are needed in medicine, radiology and FMT department.
A senior official of health department on Saturday said since Medical Council of India (MCI) is scheduled to inspect newly set up Palamu, Dumka and Hazaribagh Medical Colleges in December, all vacant posts of doctors are being filled up in these institutions before notification so that appointment process does not strand in technical hurdle of model code of conduct. MCI inspects new medical college within three months after giving permission of launching course to assess whether its guidelines have been fulfilled or not.
MCI had given conditional permission to Palamu. Dumka and Hazaribagh medical colleges of Jharkhand on August 25 to streamline institutions as per guidelines in three months.
As three months would complete in December, all vacant posts of doctors/ tutors are being filled up.
Principal of one of these medical colleges said that desertion of doctors was a major crisis. “More than 50 senior residents/ tutors of all five medical colleges have left. Some of them did not join after getting appointment while majority of those who joined resigned after working for a few days,” said the principal, requesting anonymity.
Low honorarium payment (Rs 60,000 per month) is said to be main reason of doctors’ reluctance to work in Jharkhand’s medical colleges.
Interestingly, in new notification for 81 posts, the government has again offered the same honorarium structure (Rs 60,000).
