1,271 Posts to be filled by Regularizing Contract Nurses: Health Minister Ma Subramanian

Chennai: Health minister Ma Subramanian on Monday announced that the health department will fill 3,505 vacancies for doctors by February and appoint 1,271 nurses this week.

Subramanian acknowledged that there were vacancies in government hospitals, but it was emphasized that the situation was not as bad as it was being projected by the media, doctors, or some political leaders. He was joined by senior health officials, including Health Secretary Supriya Sahu, who also addressed the concerns raised regarding the issue.

In the last two weeks, two government doctors associations have confirmed that at least 60% of the 18,000 authorized positions at government hospitals remained unfilled throughout the state. They mentioned that many have pointed out these delays in the recruitment process, including postponed promotion counselling for associate professors and professors, as well as pending recruitment exams for new candidates that have been delayed since July. These delays have been criticized by many political leaders including NTK's Seeman, leader of the opposition AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, and former AIADMK co-ordinator O Panneerselvam.

On Monday, the minister provided details about the vacancies, stating that 1,353 posts of doctors in the Directorate of Public Health (DPH), 1,600 posts in the Directorate of Medical Education (DME), and 552 posts in the Directorate of Medical Services (DMS) were vacant.

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Additionally, in January and February, post-graduates both in-service candidates and non-service PGs required to serve bond periods, will be assigned to the vacant posts at the DMS and DME. DME J Sangumani has stated that by January, 80% of the posts would be filled, and the remaining would be filled in February.

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The 1,412 contract nurses who were appointed by the government during the COVID-19 pandemic will be given priority when it comes to the appointment of permanent nurses.

He also mentioned that based on seniority and communal rotation, 1,271 nurses would be appointed by the government. Priority would be given to nurses who were on contract. It was also mentioned that after this process was carried out, the remaining 954 nurses who had worked during COVID-19 would be offered jobs based on vacancies.

However, the minister did not address questions regarding why doctors and nurses are still being appointed on a contract basis or the reasons behind the delays in conducting recruitment exams.