Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has directed the Health and Family Welfare Department to review the existing PG/SS Policy to enable Job Trainee Medical Officers to pursue postgraduate courses and streamline the recruitment of Senior Residents and Tutor Specialists in medical colleges across the state.
The Chief Minister issued these directions while interacting with newly appointed Medical Officers and Medical Officers (Super Specialists) in Shimla. He said the state government had taken several initiatives to strengthen medical education, bring clarity to service-related matters and ensure the availability of qualified medical professionals in healthcare institutions.
Sukhu directed the department to amend the PG/SS Policy to allow Job Trainee Medical Officers to pursue postgraduate courses, including MD/MS and MDS, under the 66.6 per cent quota reserved for in-service General Duty Officers (GDOs). After completing their postgraduate courses, these doctors would be required to serve the remaining period of their appointment as Job Trainees. He also directed the department to make appropriate provisions for their salary and emoluments during the course period within the state.
The Chief Minister further directed the department to facilitate the appointment of postgraduate doctors who have completed their qualifications from the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGI), Chandigarh, and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, against vacancies for Senior Residents and Tutor Specialists in state medical colleges.
Such appointments would be made under the 33.33 per cent quota reserved for direct candidates, based on merit in MBBS and postgraduate examinations, without a written test or interview.
In another decision, Sukhu announced that Geriatric Medicine Departments would be introduced at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla, and Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda, in Kangra district. The move aims to strengthen specialised healthcare services for elderly patients.
The Chief Minister also stated that Job Trainee Medical Officers would be entitled to all benefits available to General Duty Officers from the date of their appointment.
He assured the doctors that the state government would sympathetically consider their demand for exemption from appearing in tests again for regularisation of their services.
