Health Minister focus on rural health, recruitment

Guwahati, June 3 (UNI) Asom Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today asserted that motivation rather than stringent measures hold the key to persuade doctors to serve in rural areas.

Talking to reporters here, Mr Sarma said he would adopt effective measures to ensure that the doctors attend their duties sincerely and punctually and also fill up vacant posts at the earliest.

As part of these, he visited Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) this morning and has asked the Principal of the GMCH to initiate actions against doctors whom the minister found to be absent during the surprise inspection.

Admitting that patients faced problems in the GMCH, he refused to accept that the doctors did not have a good working environment.

He maintained that the doctors had adequate facilities and lack of the same could not be a ground for not reporting on duty on time.

Dividing the health sector in two branches, Mr Sarma said Health A dealt with the medical service sector while Health B was concerned more with medical education.

In Health A, he said shortage of medical staff in the rural health centres was the major problem.

He said, ''We are conducting a first-of-its-kind here walk-in interview for doctors on June 7 and 8 to fill the 234 vacancies we currently have. If vacancies still remain, retired doctors will be appointed as consultants.'' The consultants would be paid Rs 15,000 along with the other pension benefits they were currently enjoying, he said, adding that former government doctors would be given a preference.

The vacancies were in the rural areas and this perennial problem of shortage of doctors in rural areas would be given the utmost importance by the government, he added.

The minister further said 1200 nurses would be appointed within 45-60 days. Of these, 400 posts were being barred by a litigation and the department was consulting experts to expedite the case's disposal in the court.

He announced that drug would be procured through national competitive bidding to ensure transparency and quality.

Mr Sarma also informed that massive renovation of the three government medical colleges at Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Silchar would be undertaken and 155 posts created in these colleges under Medical Council of India guidelines would be filled at the earliest.

UNI SG KK DB1815