Anticipating manpower crunch, Health Dept. looks to retain non-service PGs

Anticipating that there will be a shortage of doctors if Non-Service Post Graduates (NSPGs) who have completed their one-year bond period were relieved from their posts, the Health Department is planning to retain them for nearly six months.

A health official told The Hindu that the NSPGs who completed one year of bond period in October have not been relieved. “Official orders are yet to be issued. There are plans to retain them for nearly six months, anticipating a shortage,” the official said.

This had to be done owing to the delay in filling vacancies. The Directorate of Medical Education (DME) and Research had earlier instructed deans of government medical college hospitals to wait for further instructions on relieving the NSPGs. In fact, on October 30, the Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services (DMS) wrote to the DME to divert PG students who are on their three-month District Residency Programme (DRP) to the vacant posts that arise out of relieving the NSPGs from their bond period, with effect from October 2024. A total of 273 NSPGs would be relieved from DMS institutions, from October 2024 to next year.

The DMS had asked the Joint Directors of Health Services to contact the deans of the respective medical colleges to get the diversion orders of PGs on their DRP to manage the “acute crisis arising out of the NSPGs completing their bond period”. But official sources hinted that this was unlikely to serve as a stopgap arrangement, as the DRP was only for a period of three months.

A section of government doctors said this had highlighted the glaring deficiencies in the department. “Nearly 30% of the posts of doctors are lying vacant. If NSPGs, who are currently part of the workforce, are relieved, this percentage will increase. Take for instance, the DMS. In the last counselling held by the DMS, there were 550-odd vacant posts. Taking unauthorised absenteeism into consideration, this [the vacancies] could climb to nearly 650. Now, if 163 NSPGs are relieved in October, the number of vacant posts could be anywhere between 750 and 800. When will the Health Department wake up to the reality of manpower crunch,” P. Saminathan, president, Service Doctors and Post Graduates Association said.

He further said that the Medical Services Recruitment Board was yet to hold an exam for a notification issued on March 15 to recruit 2,553 doctors. In the previous MRB examination held for 1,021 posts, nearly 350-odd posts are still vacant.

M. Keerthy Varman, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Resident Doctors Association, said there were nearly 600 to 700 NSPGs in the current batch. “It is unacceptable to retain them beyond the bond period. Many are unwilling to continue due to personal commitments. There is a section of doctors who is willing to continue to work if there is a guarantee of permanent jobs, by holding a Special Qualifying Exam,” he said.