The salary package including Non practicing Allowance (NPA), Dearness Allowance (DA) is no more fascinating the medical practitioners in Jharkhand. This can clearly be noticed in the recent doctors recruitment process at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), the state’s premier health care centre.
Applications were invited from candidates for recruitment of 94 vacant posts of doctors in the month of April, but only 57 candidates were selected out of scrutiny and from there only 36 doctors were recruited for the required post. Though application forms for the remaining post is being notified still administration is receiving zero response to the mentioned position.
“Apart from low salary, employees future are also not secured as administration has failed to prepare a service rule in which the employees are not aware on what terms and condition they are working and whether they will receive pension after their retirement or not. Moreover the employees are not getting NPA, DA and Assured Career Promotion (ACP) too. All these are the issues are creating huddle in the recruitment process,” said a doctor.
He further added, “There is a huge gap in the salary that professors get in Jharkhand or elsewhere so everyone prefers to enroll themselves in those institutions where they have a growing prospect in near future. As doctors do not find a growing future in RIMS so none of the doctors are willing to work in this health institution.”
RIMS Director, Dr Tulsi Mahto said, “We provide salary to our employees on the basis of pay band fixed by the Government. Only Government has the right to decide the salary of RIMS employees and I cannot do anything on this matter.” “RIMS is one of the best hospital in Jharkhand and working in this institution will provide doctors immense knowledge and experience which they cannot get in any other hospital,” he added.
Shortage of doctors is crippling functions of the hospital as many patients are left unattended. The condition of those admitted at the hospital is deplorable as many of them have to wait for two to three days to get a doctor who can look after them.
Dr SN Chaudhary, Dean of RIMS said, “The institute is suffering from acute shortage of doctors. The present scenario is that administration is facing difficulty in recruiting new doctors and on other side the number of patients is increasing on alarming as due to change in weather many people are suffering from water bone diseases. Our hospital is flooded with patients and we have limited doctors to attend them. So there is an urgent need to fulfill the vacant post and the administration is looking for it.”