State offers higher salary to lure doctors to villages

KOLKATA: To arm government hospitals with not only state-of-the-art medical facilities, but also the best of doctors, the state government is set to recruit around 200 doctors at salaries which are substantially higher than other health service recruits. Some will be empanelled and later join rural health centres and hospitals.

They will serve primarily at the sick neo-natal care units (SNCU) that are being set up across the state. Even though it will cost the state exchequer an additional Rs 11 crore a year, the move had become inevitable since the best doctors are often reluctant to work outside cities, health department sources said.

Being appointed on a one-year contract, 96 doctors have already been recruited. Around a 100 more will be taken in over the next six to seven months. While a contractual general duty medical officer receives Rs 40,000 on appointment, the SNCU recruits will be paid around 20% more. It will also be higher than what the state health service recruits receive. Those with experience will receive even higher compensation which could work out to more than 50% of what a health service doctor is paid. Even though the official reason is that these doctors will be doing a “high-risk, high-skilled job that requires them to be on their toes almost round-the-clock”, the fact is that the health department is keen on a good bunch of medics who would otherwise have not joined the government ranks.

“It’s true that doctors are not willing to serve in rural and semi-urban areas. One major reason is that these hospitals don’t have the infrastructure to deliver quality services which put them at risk and make their job tougher. Since we are now setting up SNCUs which will offer the best facilities, they will find it easier to serve there. Unless we have the best talent available, it won’t be of much use having the best facilities,” said Tridib Banerjee, chairman of the task force for infant mortality.

Along with freshers, senior doctors are also being appointed. Health service medical officers serving at the SNCUs will receive a special grant of Rs 8,000 per month. While some appointment letters have already been handed out, more are due in the next few weeks. “Some are taking their exams while others are yet to complete their internship. So, we are waiting for them to come and collect the letters,” said Dilip Ghosh, commissioner of the health and family welfare department.

The compensation package for the recruits will vary according to seniority. While fresh recruits form a substantial number, there is “an adequate number of senior and very senior doctors” as well. Despite the attractive packages being offered, the health department fears that several recruits may not eventually join the service. “This is, after all, a contractual service. Once health service recruitments begin, some may choose to leave. There would be yet others who are still weighing their options and may finally choose to opt out. But overall, the response has been good. We hope to be able to fill up all the slots by the middle of this year,” said a health official. The health department plans to set up 26 SNCUs by March. Sixteen of them are functional. Each will have eight to ten doctors on an average.

An intensive training programme has been designed for the recruits. First, the health department will hold a training camp for trainers later this month. “It will be conducted by members of the National Neo-natalogists’ Forum. Those who attend the camp will train our doctors, in turn. It will be a massive programme that will cover all aspects of neo-natal care,” said Banerjee.

The recruitment will be a continuous process, health officials said. “There will be vacancies from time to time. So, we will keep recruiting accordingly. The better compensation packages should help to retain doctors,” Banerjee added.

While a contractual general duty medical officer receives Rs 40,000 on appointment, the SNCU recruits will be paid around 20% more. Those with experience will receive even higher compensation which could work out to more than 50% of what a health service doctor is paid.

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