The Uttarakhand Medical Services Selection Board (UMSSB) has completed the process of interviews for selection on 712 posts of Medical Officers in the State Health Services. In a period which spanned more than one month, the Board conducted interviews of 1150 candidates. The member of the board, Dr D S Rawat said that final result would be declared after scrutiny of the documents. He said that the State Health Services would soon get young medical officers.
In the present recruitment drive, out of the total 712 posts, 200 are reserved for Schedule Caste (SC), 33 for Schedule Tribe (ST) and 154 are reserved for the Other Backward Castes (OBC).The selected MO would be inducted in the pay scale of 56100- 177500 (level 10) of state health services.
Faced with task of finding doctors of State Health Services reeling under acute shortage of doctors, the UMSSB took special measures to give wide coverage to this recruitment drive. Apart from advertising in the newspapers, the board had written letters to the Principals of many medical colleges and offices of Indian Medical Association (IMA).For the first time services of job portals like naukari.com were also taken for the purpose.
This recruitment drive is important as the State Government is pinning its hopes on it to help the State Health Services which in absence of doctors are virtually defunct in remote and mountainous areas of the State. Out of total 2700 posts of doctors in the state health services about 1800 are vacant.
Acute shortage of MO in the state health services have created problems for the people and have also accentuated migration from the mountainous parts.To attract young medicos in its health services the State Government has offered soups like implementation of Dynamic Assured Career Progression (DACP) where time bound progression in salary is assured and payment of special allowances to the doctors but all these measures have failed in attracting doctors.
“The State Government should not delay in giving appointments to the doctors interviewed by the board.
The past record is not good as long delays occurred between interviews and giving appointment and in the meantime many of the selected candidates had joined services of other State Governments or entered into the services of private hospitals,’’ said one senior doctor of State Health Services.