THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even though about 5,000 medical professionals pass out each year from medical colleges in the State, the health sector is facing a dearth of doctors, from junior to specialty cadre, with the government not filling the vacant posts.
Though the rank-lists of the Public Service Commission are pending for appointments, the posts of doctors have been left unfilled, allegedly for creating artificial shortage to help those who are on the verge of retirement in getting extension of their services.
Health Minister V S Sivakumar recently told the Assembly that there were only 523 vacant posts in the Health Department. However, the doctors say that the number of vacancies is far higher than what the minister had announced. In the medical colleges alone, there are about 250 vacancies, including those at the recently opened Manjeri Medical College. Likewise, in the health service, the number of vacancies is about 450, according to the government. However, the doctors themselves have pointed out that the number of vacancies was much more than that.
The government has not been filling the posts even though 3,000 MBBS, 1200 MD/DNB and 200 super specialty doctors pass out in the State.
Refuting the government’s claim that there is only a meager shortage of doctors in the Health Department, the Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA) said that it was much higher in reality. “The government has not been reporting any vacancy. Financial impediments are said to be restricting the government from reporting the vacancies,” KGMOA president E P Mohanan said.
On the KGMOA’s request to the government to create 950 administrative and specialist posts, he said that not a single post was created yet.
Mohanan said that situation had worsened with the launch of new medical colleges, and that the vacancies in medical colleges were currently being filled with the staff of Health Services.
“If the existing vacancies are not filled at the earliest, the health sector is going to be very critical in 2 or three years,” he said.
Kerala Medical Postgraduates Association (KMPGA) president Dr M Anas said that there was no shortage of doctors, and that an artificial scarcity was being created.
“There is no posting at the entry level. The 2011 rank-list for lecture post is yet to be shortlisted. Apart from that, the rank-list of senior lecturers of 2012 is also pending. When doctors are waiting for postings as per the rank-list, the government is talking about shortage,” Anas said, and added that the KMPGA would call for a medical recruitment board, exclusively for appointment in the medical field.
“There is an increase in population, but still the old ‘staff pattern’ is being followed. The existing doctors are forced to do ten times more work than what they are supposed to do,” he said.