Shortage of Resident doctors! Panel suggests Compulsory 1-yr JRship at medical college from Where MBBS is Done

New Delhi: Noting huge vacancies of Junior Residents in Delhi Hospitals, the committee set up by the Delhi High Court has recommended introducing a compulsory one-year Junior-Residentship (JR ship) in the institute from where the medical students are pursuing their MBBS course.

Further, as an immediate measure, the panel has suggested giving autonomy to the government hospitals to fill up the vacant posts of Junior Residents on an ad-hoc/contractual basis.

In its interim report, submitted to the High Court, the panel noted that among the 2250 sanctioned posts of JRs, 1708 posts are filled while there are vacancies in 542 posts of JRs. Therefore, around 24% of posts of JRs are lying vacant in altogether 38 Government-run hospitals across Delhi.

Reasons for Vacant posts of JRs:

Informing that around 24% of the posts of JRs are lying vacant across Delhi Hospitals, the committee appointed by the High Court has listed the following reasons for the vacancies:

(i) The panel noted in its report that due to non-maintenance of Hierarchy system of Primary/Secondary/Tertiary centres, the tertiary centres are overburdened and doctors prefer to work in Primary centre/Secondary centres with less work/night duties/emergency duties.

(ii) As per the committee, admission to the speciality (MD) courses is another reason for the vacancies.

Immediate Measures Recommended by the Panel: 

• Among the immediate measures to fill up the vacant JR posts in the Delhi hospitals, the committee has recommended giving autonomy to respective hospitals to fill up these posts on adhoc/contractual basis.
• "To attract, the emoluments and other benefits for the contractual employees should be at par with the regular appointments. Filling these posts will be easier if the salary is 25% more than that of a regular employee," it suggested in the report.

• Further, the committee suggested extending the tenure from current one year to till replacement is available. It also recommended allowing re-employment of those who have done JR-ship before.

Short and Intermediate measures: 

Apart from the above-mentioned solutions, the committee also recommended expediting the recruitment to fill up the vacant posts. It suggested the following long-time measures to deal with the shortage:

1. Compulsory one year of JR ship in the institution from where MBBS is done like being followed in some states/Institutions.

2. Referral System to be strictly followed for Tertiary care Hospitals

3. Create posts of resident medical officers (RMOs), with 3 years post M.B.B.S. experience of having worked in emergency/casualty services or specialized areas.

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