Apart from severe shortage of staff it is ad hocism galore in the Uttarakhand Medical Services Selection Board (UMSSB), Dehradun. The board set up to recruit doctors for the state health services in the year 2015 is working with only two data entry operators, three security personnel and two class IV employees. What is more alarming is the fact that the persons deployed on key executive positions like Secretary, financial controller and examination controller of the board are working on a par time basis.
The Secretary of the UMSSB, N S Dangi is also discharging his work as examination controller of Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission (USSSC). The employees of the UMSSB reveal that Dangi occasionally visits the office located at Danda lakhaund as his assignment at USSSC keeps him more occupied. Similarly the Examinational controller of UMSSRB Dr Anup Gadkhad is holding additional responsibility of Registrar of Uttarakhand Ayurveda University and Professor, Rishikul Ayurveda College, Haridwar. The Financial Controller of the UMSSB, Shailendra Singh is busy discharging his duties as Director Finance of state health directorate and Financial Controller of State Infrastructural and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand limited (SIIDCUl).
Apart from affecting the functioning of the board the ad hocism is also casting a shadow on the sanctity of the process of selection.
The UMSSB has a chairman (Dr I S Pal) and one full time member (Dr R P Bhatt) while the Director General (DG) state health services and Director Medical education are ex officio members of the board. The board has sanctioned staff strength of 27 employees but it has only two data entry operators, three security personnel and two class IV workers. Two employees from the DG Health office are posted on deputation in the board office.
Acute shortage of staff has affected the functioning of the board which was set up to expedite the process of recruitment of doctors. The plea forwarded for setting up the board was that since the recruitment process of Uttarakhand Public Service Commission (UPSC) is long a separate selection board would expedite the process of recruitment of doctors. This objective however is not being fulfilled in absence of adequate number of staff members. The condition is so critical that UMSSB has requested the Office of DG Health to send eight employees on deputation so that the ensuing interviews of dental doctors are conducted. The interviews of the dental doctors are scheduled from July 24 to 28 in which about 450 candidates would appear before three boards.
The Chairman of the UMSSB Dr I S Pal accepted that the board is suffering from shortage of the staff members. He said that request to the state administration to deploy employees in the board has been made.