Akhilesh Government’s initiative to lure doctors to go for rural posting by promising to reserve seats for them in PG courses has failed to break much ice as there is practically no taker for this scheme.
A senior official in health department told The Pioneer here on Monday that rural posting of doctors has “practically not increased”. The doctors are still not willing to go for posting in Primary Health Centres (PHCs) despite Government reserving 30 per cent seats for them, he said.
Government knows that the decision has backfired for them therefore Principal Secretary Health Arvind Kumar in his order dated October 26, 2015 said that Government decision to reserve 30 per cent seats for doctors who have completed their rural stint needs to be popularized. It asks CMOs and CMS to ensure wide publicity of the order.
This GO was issued almost two years. It said that state Government would reserve 30 per cent of the post-graduate seats for those MBBS doctors who have completed their mandatory stint of rural services. Government believed that this decision would motivate MBBS doctors to go to rural areas with the intention to get the benefit of reservation facility.
What went haywire was another GO issued on May 26, 2015 which specified the rural posting saying that only those doctors stand benefited from these directives who have worked in the “far flung” areas of the state. This order has created consternation among the cadre of Provincial Health and Medical Services (PHMS). The doctors asked Government to classify PHCs that come under the category of far flung area.
The association got a boost after Allahabad High Court ordered that “… vacant seats within 30 per cent quota should be filled on the basis of merit of PMS cadre” This directive came following a writ filed by Dr Vivek Kumar Sachchan and two others.
The court said “… an officer of the state may appear in person for explaining the actual implementation in reservation in admission in the PG courses and identification of PHCs/CHC on the basis of merit.”
General Secretary of the doctors’ association Dr Sachin Vaish said that education is right of every doctor. The government cannot put conditions to MBBS doctors for going for post-graduation. It is the right for every doctor to go for specialization. This order is against the fundamental right of the doctors, Dr Vaish said.
The state-run hospitals are facing a crunch of MBBS doctors willing to work in rural areas. Despite many advertisements by State Service Commission to appoint doctors and the proposal to appoint retired doctors on ad hoc basis over 1000 posts are lying vacant. As doctors are not willing to serve in rural areas the PHCs and CHCs are facing staff crunch