200 Posts in CEmONC on contract basis

They are appointing these doctors to the GH and upgraded PHCs.

And the newspaper article does not mean "appointment of 200 doctors"

The news release is "creation of 200 posts" which is always going to be filled on contract basis like this http://www.tn.gov.in/gorders/hfw-e-197-2004.htm

Now this merits some discussion.

Imagine there are 50 posts of doctors in a district. There were vacancies in some posts - few in districts like Chennai and Madurai and a lot of vacancies in districts like Nilgris and Perambalur.

Now the government appoints temporary doctors over there, on contract basis, (As per G.O No 197, H& FW Dept, dated 07.06.2004, Annexure IV paras 4, 5 and 6 where doctors are appointed on Contract Basis) with a condition that the contract shall initially be for six months from the date of appointment or till the regular candidates appointed through the TNPSC join duty at that place

1. The Appointee shall not be entitled for any preferential claim whatsoever for regular appointment in Government service at a future date.
2. The Appointee shall not be entitled to any probationary or other rights.
3. The services of the Appointee are liable to be terminated at any time during the contract period without any notice.

http://www.nellaimedicos.com/blog/doctorsandlaw/2005/06/contract-medical-consultants-and.html

So this is a very good order (at least in theory). let me explain. Vacancies continue to arise in govt posting due to

1. Retirement
2. Creation of medical colleges , creation of departments
3. Few of our people "absconding" - either going abroad or settling down in a private practise - I think we have to blame our people for this.

But the TNPSC exam is conducted on a yearly basis. (some times once every 4 years). SO there are vacancies. The district collector and JD are given powers to appoint a temporary doctor so that the public do not suffer. Subham

But there are deeper meaning to it. If there is a vacancy, the govt can appoint a new doctor from the waiting list of previous TNPSC. So what the GO actually leads to is a situation where the govt pays Rs 8000 for the contract doctor, where as it has to pay Rs 15000 for a regular appointee.

In fact the appointment of contract doctors is for the sole reason of saving money. Any other reason (like administrative delay etc) can be easily solved with paper work.

When a regular doctor wishes to come to that place, the contract doctor can be asked to go home or move to another vacancy nearby

But now what has happened is CREATION OF POSTS. In short, these posts will be ALWAYS filled by doctors on contract basis only.

So why has it happened.

The reason is simple. There are many government medical colleges that have been started in the past few years. Thoothukudi, kanyakumari, Vellore, Theni etc. ANd that means you have to create posts in that college. As Dr.Asha has pointed out, such a post (in a teaching institution) cannot be on contract basis. So the government has decided to divert the Salary hitherto given to the staff (regular) in PHCs and GH and has decided to fill the post in GH and PHC on contract basis.

In short, you are getting (new) medical colleges (tertiary institutions) with regular staff while the (old) GH and PHC have contract staff. Some twenty years ago (when MCI was not so strict), they would have easily started a medical college with temporary staff.

And coming to the present order, that is of course a welcome step. When there is a CEmONC within 50 kilometres of any village in Tamil Nadu that is going to benefit the rural public.

In any government setup, It is a normal phenomenon to start something on a temporary basis and then move to permanent basis. So far everything is well and good. (That is appointment of doctors on temporary basis)

But what has now happened is the entire posts are temporary - that means there will always a contract doctor and not a regular doctor on that posts

So you have the following scenario

1. No CEmONC (Read Hospital)
2. CEmONC (Hospital) with temporary doctors at temporary posts
3. CEmONC (Hospital) with temporary doctors at regular posts
4. CEmONC (Hospital)with regular doctors at regular posts

Though 4 is the ideal scenario, you will agree that 2 is better than 1.

In the past the situation will proceed from 1 to 3 to 4
Now it has come from 1 to 2 and will NOT proceed.

And let me come to a user poll

What will you prefer

60 hospitals with temporary doctors
or
30 hosptials with permanent doctors.

Look it at a broader perspective... This question has two answers, one from a doctor point of view and another from a public point of view...