Haryana Govt Doctors criticize additional charges for Civil Surgeons, Promotions delays

The association has highlighted the dual charge assignment and the challenges faced by the Haryana civil medical services cadre. The association pointed out that civil surgeons are often forced to hold additional charges of directors and other administrative posts without any extra remuneration which causes extreme stress and even affects their overall performance.

The association has requested that timely promotion measures be taken so that such vacant posts can be filled with eligible people properly. HCMS claimed that presently, 16-17 posts of Civil Surgeons (CS) or Principal Medical Officers (PMOs) are vacant, and there are many eligible doctors awaiting such promotions for a long time.

Talking to medical dialogues, the president of the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association, Dr Rajesh Khyalia, stated, “Additional charges and pending promotion of doctor are the two hurdles that we civil surgeons are facing right now. There is a strong sense of resentment among members against such an unprecedented and unwarranted trend of assigning dual responsibility charge of two different hierarchical posts to a single officer, which eventually further narrows down the existing scanty promotional avenues in the cadre resulting in stagnation and thus degrading morale and motivation of the HCMS cadre.”

In a letter submitted to the ADS of the Haryana Health Department, the association further added, “Holding dual charges at senior administrative levels will not only overburden the individual but can also result in compromised attention & efficiency required for such roles. Civil Surgeon is a pivotal post in the health department, assigning additional charge of Civil Surgeon to a Director may lead to administrative delays and operational inefficiencies in managing health services, ultimately impacting the quality of healthcare delivery in critical regions.”

Earlier this year, the association members were unsatisfied because some officials who were appointed to the position of Director of Health Services in the department were once again assigned the extra responsibilities of civil surgeons in the state. While Dr Sukhvir Singh, Director of Health Services (Director General, Health Services) Panchkula was given the additional charge as the Civil Surgeon of Kurukshetra, Dr Virender Yadav was assigned the charge of Director, MCH O/o National Health Mission, Sector-2, Panchkula along with the additional charge of Civil Surgeon, Gurugram. Moreover, Dr Brahmadeep was appointed as Director Mental Health along with the additional charge of civil surgeon at Jhajjar.

“Assigning the additional responsibility of Civil Surgeon to a Director could cause administrative delays and operational inefficiencies in managing health services, which could affect the quality of healthcare delivery in important regions. The post of Civil Surgeon is important for both the district and the department,” added Dr Rajesh.