Himachal Job Trainee Medical Officers to Get PG Study Opportunities, GDO Benefits from Appointment: CM Sukhu.
Shimla:
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has announced a series of measures to improve career opportunities for Job Trainee Medical Officers, strengthen medical education and enhance healthcare services across the state. He directed the Health and Family Welfare Department to review the existing PG/SS Policy to facilitate postgraduate studies for Job Trainee Medical Officers and streamline the recruitment process for Senior Residents and Tutor Specialists in government medical colleges.
The Chief Minister was interacting with newly appointed Medical Officers and Medical Officers (Super Specialists) in Shimla. He said the state government was taking several initiatives to strengthen the medical education system, 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 salaries and other emoluments during the course period.
He further directed that postgraduate doctors who have completed their qualifications from PGI Chandigarh and AIIMS New Delhi should be considered for appointment against vacancies of Senior Residents and Tutor Specialists in the state’s medical colleges. Their selection would be based on merit obtained in MBBS and postgraduate examinations, without a written test or interview, under the 33.33 per cent quota reserved for direct candidates.
The Chief Minister also 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.
He stated that Job Trainee Medical Officers would receive all benefits available to GDOs from their date of appointment. He also assured them that the government would sympathetically consider exempting them from appearing in another test for regularisation.
Emphasising the government’s commitment to strengthening healthcare infrastructure, Sukhu said that providing world-class medical facilities to people remained a priority. He said several reforms had been undertaken over the past four years to improve healthcare delivery. Robotic surgery had been introduced in four government medical colleges, enabling patients to access advanced treatment within the state. Doctors were also being sent on overseas exposure visits to learn international best practices and implement them in Himachal Pradesh.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. (Col.) Dhani Ram Shandil said the government was continuously working to improve healthcare services under the leadership of the Chief Minister. He claimed that during the previous BJP government’s tenure, health institutions were functioning with only 35 per cent of their sanctioned staff strength, which had now increased to approximately 80 per cent.
He added that despite the discontinuation of the Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG) and financial constraints, the state government was utilising its own resources to strengthen the healthcare sector.
MLA Sanjay Awasthy, Secretary Health Ashish Singhmar, Managing Director of the National Health Mission Pradeep Thakur, Director Health Services Dr. Gopal Berry and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
