Doctors slam Delhi Govt's 44-day ad-hoc hiring policy

New Delhi: A series of posts by doctors on social media have slammed the Delhi government’s practice of hiring junior doctors on an Ad-hoc basis for a period of just 44 days, with renewals granted only after a compulsory one-day break.

A female doctor, who recently served on an interview panel for these posts, raised serious concerns about the quality of medical education and the hiring systems. In a post on 'X' (formerly Twitter), she stated that candidates who appeared for the non-academic junior resident posts lacked even basic clinical knowledge and skills, despite having cleared the NEET PG.

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"All of them had a NEET rank that was increasing in thousands !!! I was aghast to know rank in two thousands was considered relatively good and the candidate would get a good post-graduate course. Even the clinical skills of these "good" candidates was deplorable to say the least. Remaining doctors didn't know the basics of clinical and even theoretical knowledge," she wrote, adding that foreign medical graduates performed even worse.

She also described the 44-day appointment system as “a scam,” arguing that it leaves doctors unstable without proper career growth. She pointed out that since the doctors have educational loans to repay, they get pushed into such jobs.

"Government should make this whole process illegal. Its purely a scam. Most of the candidates were telling about the loans their parents have to repay, and hence the necessity for them to get some kind of job," she added.

Responding to her post, an X user criticised the system and explained that some employers exploit manual workers by hiring them for 89-day cycles. After a one-day break, the contract is renewed for another 89 days, which helps the employers deny them EPF and ESI benefits. He argued that by giving doctors appointments for only 44 days, with renewal after a one-day gap, the government is treating doctors even worse than manual workers.

"If you have such an attitude towards your fellow professionals, you do not deserve to be in the medical profession and have no right to speak on it," he said. He further pointed out that blaming only students for poor medical knowledge is unfair, as teachers and the medical education system are both equally responsible.

Taking note of the concerns, National Spokesperson of the Indian Medical Association Junior Doctors Network, Dr Dhruv Chauhan, tagged Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and state Health Minister Pankaj Singh, urging them to scrap the 44-day contract and instead offer doctors a minimum one-year job tenure.

"Doctors getting job for 44 days period by Delhi government keeps them nowhere on ground. They neither feel employed nor unemployed but hanging in between worried about their next job," he said in a post on 'X'.