A recent statement of Health Minister Ma. Subramanian on recruitment of doctors has forced some doctors to do a fact check. The Minister had said that the process to fill 1,021 posts of doctors was in progress after 25,000 persons wrote the Medical Services Recruitment Board (MRB) exam. However, the doctors have pointed out that the exam, scheduled to be held in December 2022, was deferred.
Listing the recruitment being done, Mr. Subramanian said during a press meet in Coimbatore on January 31 that the recruitment for 1,021 posts of doctors was going on.
“In between, there was a case in the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court that has been cleared. Nearly 25,000 doctors have written the exam for 1,021 posts. The selection process is under way and the appointment orders will be issued soon,” he had said.
His statement was in reference to recruitment for the posts of 1,021 Assistant Surgeon (General). After issuing a notification on October 11, 2022 for the posts, MRB, in a notification on December 5, 2022 announced that the written exam for the posts, scheduled to be held on December 11 and 12, was postponed in pursuance to the orders of the Madurai Bench.
It said the date of exam would be announced later. Surprised over his statement, a number of doctors pointed out that neither the exam was conducted nor the new date was announced. Some even took to the social media to get the facts right.
The court case related to a writ petition challenging the Tamil eligibility test for candidates. While this “false” statement on doctors recruitment has not gone down well among a section of doctors, The larger cause of concern among doctors for them is the huge number of vacancies and the delay in recruitment.
A government doctor, who did not want to be named, said, “Two batches of postgraduates, each comprising 700 to 800, have moved out in 2021 and 2022 but their posts remain vacant. We do not understand the delay in MRB taking up recruitment. This is completely an administrative failure. There is no vision or action for filling up the vacancies.”
Doctors pointed out that this has not only led to a rise in workload for existing doctors but was also affecting patient care.
