Japan K Pathak

Gandhinagar: The government many times is blamed for shortage of doctors at public hospitals and clinics, but how difficult it is for the government to get sufficient number of doctors in public service is the actual story which needs to be told, and the story is sad.

Gujarat Public Service Commission (GPSC) had recently announced vacancies for 1,619 medical officers in the State government (Gujarat Medical and Health Service, Class-II – Medical Officer and Insurance Medical Officer). Against 1,619 vacant posts advertised for recruitment, only 795 candidates actually qualified at the end of the written competitive exams. Out of these 795 candidates, only 530 candidates uploaded documents (degree etc), and from 530 who passed written exam and also uploaded documents, only 265 candidates appeared for interviews. Needless to say, they all were selected. How many of them actually appear and join job still remain a question.

When contacted, Chairman of GPSC, Shri Dinesh Dasa confirmed this development and said, GPSC makes sufficient efforts to recruit doctors, however turnout remains low. It has happened this time, and same happened two years ago when similar drive to recruit doctors for Medical Education and Health Services was conducted.

When asked whether same happens while recruiting candidates for any other stream, Shri Dasa replied, ‘this doesn’t happen in any other stream. For example, in Engineering field, 350 posts are to be filled, for which over 30,000 applicants are going to appear in exams and none of them generally remains absent.

This worrying situation clearly explains that while the government’s efforts are sincere, there are takers to respond in equal number. It’s worth noting that doctors recruited under this drive would get around Rs. 70,000 salary per month to start with, in addition to benefits availed to government servants.

The GPSC has also published 125 advertisements to recruit 722 faculties of Professor, Associate Professor and Assistant Professors for various subjects for the Govt medical colleges, wherein written test has been conducted for more than 90 advertisements. The commission is also conducting recruitment for over 900 posts of Class 1 in specialized subjects for medical services.

DeshGujarat