BHUBANESWAR: Struggling to find doctors to fill up the large-scale vacancies in the public health facilities, the Odisha government, for the first time, has decided to allow medical graduates from other states to join its service as doctors.
The decision to permit doctors from outside Odisha has been taken in the wake of a major recruitment drive planned this year to fill up the posts of 2,452 doctors, 82 dental surgeons and 94 assistant professors.
Earlier only residents of Odisha who are able to read, write and speak Odia, and those who have passed middle school examination in Odia as a language subject or passed matriculation or equivalent with Odia as medium of examination in non-language subject were eligible for the recruitment in State-run hospitals.
The move is expected to meet the challenges the State has been facing due to shortage of doctors. In the last major drive, a year ago, only 1,403 doctors could be recruited against 3,278 posts due to lack of adequately trained professionals.The State government has amended the Odisha Medical and Health Services (Method of Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Rules to remove the restrictions on entry of doctors in the government jobs from outside states.
The MBBS graduates from other states will have to register their name in the Odisha Council of Medical Registration system established under section 3 of the Odisha Medical Registration Act, 1961 before issue of the appointment order. If any candidate has not passed middle school examination in Odia as a language subject, he/she will be allowed to pass the examination conducted by Board of Secondary Education within four years of joining the service.
Additional Chief Secretary of Health department PK Mohapatra said the rules have been amended after getting approved by the State Cabinet. “The Odisha Medical and Health Services (Method of Recruitment and Conditions of Service) Amendment Rules, 2020 will be applicable for the planned recruitment drive and the OPSC has accordingly been recommended to issue the job notification,” he said. Sources said no other state than the North Eastern ones like Assam has provisions for recruitment of non-resident doctors in government hospitals.