Cabinet gives nod to new placement policy and appointment policy for doctors

Chandigarh, August 28, 2012:  In order to provide better health care facilities to the people and bridge the gap of shortage of doctors in the state, a special placement, transfer and appointment policy has been approved by the Punjab Council of Ministers in today’s Cabinet meeting held under the Chairmanship of Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, Punjab. The Cabinet also gave its nod for filling the posts of doctors through the procedure of Walk-in-interviews and campus placements for the specialist doctors.

Disclosing this here today, Madan Mohan Mittal, Health and Family Welfare Minister, Punjab said that according to the newly formed policy, all the health institutions have been divided into four categories namely A, B, C and D. Category A would include the major cities like Amritsar, Patiala, Ludhiana and Jalandhar etc; Category B would cover semi-urban and urban areas, Category C would have other difficult areas which are not included in category B, while the Category D would cover the more difficult rural areas of the State.

According to the new policy, now a basic minimum tenure of service has been fixed for doctors in health institutions falling under each of these categories, i.e. in Category D minimum tenure of 4 years, Category C minimum time for posting would be for 5 years, Category B- 7 years and remaining tenure can be served in the institutions falling under Category A.

The Minister further stated that this policy would however not be applicable to those Medical Officers, who have already completed their five years of service as on 1-1-2012. Adding further, he said that once a medical officers completes the specified period of service in a particular category, he/she shall be given some preference regarding their choice of posting under the next eligible category.

However, he informed that the first posting shall only be given in the health institutions falling under the Category- D. Similarly, a minimum period of 9 years of service shall be pre-requisite for the doctors for deputations to Chandigarh or other places. 

Referring to yet another important decision taken by the Council of Ministers, Madan Mohan Mittal said that all the posts of the specialist doctors have been taken out of the purview of the PPSC and these posts would now be filled through ‘walk-in- interviews’ as well as campus recruitments from the Medical Colleges of Punjab state and amongst the doctors pursuing MD courses at PGIMER, Chandigarh. The department would update the status of vacant posts monthly on its website and the special Selection Committee constituted by the government would hold walk-in-interview on the 16^th of each month for filling these posts.           

The Minister reiterated his resolve to provide better health care facilities to the people and said that with the new policy in place there shall be no shortage of the MBBS and other specialist doctors in the state.