Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Health Services gets 200 new doctors

Thiruvananthapuram: The government Health Services has inducted nearly 200 new doctors into the public health system as assistant surgeons.

However, in Kannur district, where there is an acute shortage of doctors with the most number of vacancies (102) being reported, only three persons have joined service.

In Kasaragod too, only one person has opted to join service, while there are 47 vacancies.

There are 622 vacancies of doctors across the State.

In the counselling held at the office of the National Rural Health Mission here on Wednesday, 199 of the 298 doctors who had received advice memo from the Kerala Public Service Commission participated.

As many as 107 doctors will join service immediately, while 92 doctors who are currently doing postgraduate studies, will be given time till they complete their courses.

The department has failed to get the vacancies of doctors filled in Kannur district primarily because the private sector hospitals there have been offering salaries that the Government can never hope to match, sources in the Health Department said.

For the first time, the doctors who appeared for the interview were given their choice of placement.

Also, the Government had offered an additional allowance of Rs. 5,000 through the National Rural Health Mission for those who were willing to join institutions in difficult rural areas.

The placement process was made transparent this time by uploading the entire list of vacancies on the Arogya Keralam web site.

Unlike previous years, when even one-third of the doctors who received appointment orders did not join service, the response this time was gratifying.

The following is the details of the doctors who have been appointed in various districts, against the vacancies.

Thiruvananthapuram 3 (19 vacancies); Kollam 11 (27); Pathanamthitta 5 (40); Alappuzha 9 (33); Kottayam 16 (43); Idukki 3 (36); Ernakulam 9 (56); Thrissur 21 (60); Palakkad 5 (65); Malappuram 14 (35); Kozhikode 7 (25); Kannur 3 (102); and Kasaragod 1 (47).

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Handloom village project set to take off after initial lag
Strike in SBT over merger bid today
Contributions to Chief Minister’s fund
Health Services gets 200 new doctors
AISF seeks new policy
NIST scientist gets Bhatnagar prize
Siddique: police being used to sabotage probe
Call for vigil against plastic use
Power outage
University puts fee hike on hold
Various programmes to mark World Tourism Day
Work on at Chitranjali
Former Minister questions CPI stance
Thiruvananthapuram Today

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu