Only 2 per cent of Punjab Rural Medical Officers opt for transfer to Health dept

According to The Times of India, the initiative, intended to strengthen the state’s strained health infrastructure amid a shortage of doctors in Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Community Health Centres (CHCs), and district hospitals, was expected to draw more participation after the finance department removed earlier administrative hurdles. However, RMOs have said their decision hinges on assured seniority protection and continuation of service-related benefits. Punjab currently operates around 500 rural dispensaries, each serving nearly 10,000 people, under the panchayats department.

The merger proposal clarifies that the seniority of the RMOs willing to join the health department will be counted from the date of joining the new department, not from their regularisation under the panchayats department. This clause might have triggered the low response from the doctors. Moreover, the doctors will receive emoluments from the date of joining the health department. The transfer process will be initiated only after the doctors submit a written undertaking to accept these conditions, reports the daily.

Those who decide to continue their work with the panchayats department serving the same roles will be considered as a part of a “dying cadre,” meaning even if a vacancy arises, no new appointments will be made. The corresponding rural dispensary, along with its paramedical and Class IV staff, will subsequently be transferred to the health department. Director-cum-special secretary (rural development and panchayats) Uma Shankar Gupta said that protection of seniority is one of the glaring reasons for the poor responses. “The state has ensured pay protection for RMOs moving to the health department, but the lack of seniority protection remains a key hurdle,” he said.

Dr Jagjit Bajwa, state president of the Rural Medical Officers’ Association, Punjab, has requested the state government to consider the issue of seniority and DACP/MACP benefits before instructing the RMOs for merger into the health department. He pointed out that rural medical officers invest almost two decades of service exclusively in rural areas, and it would be "unjust" to ignore all the years of service in the proposed merger. "We urge the CM to consider this legitimate demand of rural medical officers," stated Dr. Bajwa, adding that any transfer without credit for past service would be unfair to a cadre that had served as the backbone of rural healthcare in Punjab.