KOLKATA: State Health department has issued guidelines for the posting and transfer of teaching doctors under West Bengal Medical Education Service (WBMES) cadre saying that all WBMES teaching doctors have to serve half of his/her tenure outside Kolkata and its nearby districts.
The decision has been taken as many of the doctors had always preferred to serve in medical colleges in the city and it's adjoining areas. Most of the teaching doctors had an apathy to join a medical college which is in far off areas.
As per the new guidelines, nobody will be allowed to get a posting in those medical colleges which fall under Kolkata metropolitan area and also in seven districts like South 24-Pargamas, Nadia, North 24-Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, East Midnapore and East Burdwan unless the teaching doctor has already served more than half of his/her tenure outside these areas.
Four zones have been demarcated so far. All the medical colleges in Kolkata metropolitan area fall under zone I while the medical colleges in South 24-Pargamas, Nadia, North 24-Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, East Midnapore and East Burdwan are in zone II. Teacher doctors working in any medical colleges under zones I and II can be transferred to other medical college within these two zones.
According to the new guidelines, in case of the first posting the teacher doctor can be given a preference in medical colleges that fall under zones III and IV.
Medical colleges in Murshidabad, West Midnapore, Jhargram, West Burdwan, Bankura, Birbhum and Purulia fall under zone III. All the eight districts are in zone IV.
However, there will be some relaxations for some doctor teachers in certain specific cases.
In some cases the teachers will be able to get a posting close to place where his/her lives if the parent of the dependent are mentally or physically handicapped or the legal guradian of the dependent are mentally or physically handicapped. Apart from these, handicapped teacher doctors will also get the facilities.
If both the husband and wife belong to WBMES cadre, posting in the same zone may be considered for them subject to availability of vacancy, reads the new guideline.
A single parent teacher may opt for his/her place of posting as his/her preference.
The transfer in WBMES cadres shall not be a routine process, say the guidelines.