State to recruit doctors from Tamil Nadu, Orissa

Neena Sharma

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 26

Notwithstanding the lukewarm response to its guest doctors scheme, the state Health Department will now undertake an exploratory tour of Tamil Nadu and Orissa for recruiting medical officers and specialists through the newly created Medical Recruitment Board.

The tour is planned in December, in which a team from Uttarakhand led by the Director (General Health) and Chairman (Medical Board) will visit different medical colleges and hospitals to recruit young doctors.

“We have been told that Tamil Nadu and Orissa have been churning out doctors from numerous medical colleges, but the absorption rate is very low due to lack of good salaries. The team will explore all these possibilities and decide the course of action,” said Om Prakash, Principal Secretary, Health. The Health Department plans to lure these doctors to the state with better pay scales.

In Orissa, the government has not been able to hike the salaries in keeping with the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission. Similarly, in Tamil Nadu, the state government is facing the problem of excess. “So many private colleges have come up in Tamil Nadu over the last few years that it has become difficult to accommodate all the doctors. We will be holding talks with the department officials concerned to see how we can attract them,” said Dr RS Bhatt, Director General (Health). The appointments will be held on permanent basis.

In the last one year, the government has tried unconventional methods of attracting doctors to the state. Among these was the Guest Doctor Scheme, which received lukewarm response. “Irrespective of the response, the Guest Doctors Scheme will continue,” added Dr Bhatt.