Service in UP Periphery Districts: MBBS doctors to get Rs 60 k pm, Specialist Rs 1.10 lakh
Lucknow: In an attempt to encourage more doctors for joining services in the remote areas of periphery districts, the Uttar Pradesh Health Department has planned to pay them more salary than their colleagues in the metro cities.
Now, the specialist posted in a periphery district would get Rs 1.10 lakh on a monthly basis, whereas the same doctor would get Rs 80,000 if they join service in a metro city. Similarly, the pay for MBBS doctors in a periphery district has been set as Rs 60,000 per month against their pay in bigger cities, i.e. Rs 40,000, reports Hindustan Times.
Such a move on the part of the UP Government has come at a time when the State Health Department is focused on boosting the healthcare system in the State before the upcoming third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. For this, the Uttar Pradesh health department has initiated the process to hire 900 doctors.
For these posts, which will be filled up on a contractual basis, the State has already received 1500 applications altogether and the interview process has also commenced. The entire process is expected to get wrapped up within September 1 and appointment letters are expected to be issued in the first week of September.
Among around 18,000 sanctioned posts, the state already has almost 14,000 government doctors working on a permanent basis in 157 hospitals, 885 community health centers, and 3000 primary health centers.
While commenting on the development, a senior health department official has informed Hindustan Times that in these contractual posts, the doctors will have the provision to work from their own district. "Being contractual jobs, the selected doctors will be given the option to work in their home district if there are vacancies," said the senior health official.
"Our focus, as well as the vacancies, are more in the district hospitals and community health centres in the periphery (remote) districts such as Chitrakoot, Deoria, Banda, Balrampur, Shamli, and Hamirpur, where the number of doctors is less. So, doctors joining in these districts, will get more salary compared to metro cities," the official added.
Further commenting on the pay-scale, the health department official clarified to HT that "The appointment will, however, be for districts in the periphery or those far off from metros and doctors joining services in such districts will get more pay."
Dr. Kalpana Singh, director-general training who also holds charge of director general medical health told the daily, "We have received applications from 1500 doctors and interviews have begun to select the best ones from among them for our hospitals across the state."
"We expected at least 500 applicants will be specialists, but we got 251 such applications. We hope a good number of them pass the screening and join service," she added.
Meanwhile, pointing out that hiring doctors in the periphery districts is important for reducing the caseloads in the city-based hospital, Dr. Abhishek Shukla, secretary-general association of international doctors said, "Increasing the number of doctors in periphery districts will ensure patients do not have to rush to the state capital for treatment. This eventually will reduce the load on health facilities in King George's Medical University in Lucknow or the Medical College in Prayagraj."
