Government is still struggling to provide quality healthcareto its citizens. Majority of our Government run hospitals are not able to caterthe demands of patients. It was a shocking incident last year when a women fromKalaroos, Kupwara had to deliver a baby on the roadside. The woman belonging toa disadvantaged community was kept under observation for a few hours at theSrinagar’s Government L D hospital after which the doctors there allegedlyrefused her an overnight stay at the hospital. The rural healthcare system onthe other hand is much worse as most of the Primary Health Centers (PHCs) donot have qualified doctors, especially in places like Kupwara , Kishtwar, Doda, Poonch , Bandipora , Ramban etc. To address the dearth of doctors in remoteareas Governor administration directed to appoint around 1000 Medical Officerson fast-track basis by amending the doctors’ recruitment policy. J&K PublicService Commission (PSC) was asked to select the doctors by holding a writtentest only and the interview process wascompletely bypassed which is a very good development indeed. Vide Governmentorder No: 49-HME of 2019 Dated : 14.01.2019, Health and Medical Educationdepartment took cognizance of lack of proper healthcare facility in rural andinaccessible areas of J&K. The sort of prologue of this order reads :
” Whereas taking cognizance of lack of proper medical carefacilities in the rural / peripheral areas of the state due to acute shortageof Medical Officers , the health and medical education department worked out aproposal to utilize all the vacancies of medical officers including thoseearmarked for leave , training and deputation reserves by referring thevacancies to the J&K Public Service Commission for selection purpose onfast track basis in the larger public interest.”
Serving in rural areas
Government vide SRO 202 Dated: 30.06.2015 has made itmandatory for newly appointed Government officials to service in rural andfar-flung areas for a period of 5 to 7 yrs. The said SRO was applicable to NonGazetted employees only , but vide Govt order No: 49-HME of 2019 Dated : 14.01.2019, SRO 202has been made applicable to MedicalOfficers as well who come under Gazetted services cadre. 1000 posts of Medical Officers were referredto J&K Public Service Commission (PSC) by Government after seekingconcurrence from Finance Department. Written test was held conducted in themonth of December 2018. Out of 1000 posts 430 posts were reserved for SCs , STs, RBAs and others. Within just 2 weeks result was notified which wasappreciated by one and all.
Physically not present ?
Government issuedappointment orders in favour of 921 Medical Officers in January 2019. 79 orderswere kept in abeyance due to some legal issue. Majority of medical officersjoined before the respective Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) or Block MedicalOfficers (BMOs) but as on date around 50 % of these doctors are allegedly notphysically present at their respective rural hospitals. Reason is most of themare undergoing PG courses (MD , MS etc) and this was already made clear to suchappointees that they have to chose one out of the two vide Govt order No: 333HME of 2019 Dated : 14.03.2019. Many PGs are allegedly attending two days ofservice in Poonch or Kishtwar and then come back to attend their classes. SomeBMOs are part of this felonious act who need to be identified.
Conclusion
After issuing appointment orders to the newly appointedMedical Officers, few notices was served to those who were not presentphysically present at their place of posting. On the other hand those figuringin the waiting list are not considered at all. What is the fun of making fasttrack appointments when the appointed doctors are not joining service evenafter 3 months? Why is Govt reluctant to issue appointment orders in favour ofwaiting list candidates who fulfil the necessary requirement as per PSC’sBusiness Rules ?