State to recruit more than 6,000 healthcare staff to boost rural health infrastructure
Kolkata: In a bid to further boost the health infrastructure in the state, the Health department is set to induct more than 1,200 general duty medical officers (GDMOs) and more than 5,000 nursing personnel. The GDMOs and nursing staff will mostly be posted in the rural areas, sources said. About 621 assistant professors will also be recruited.
According to a health official, rural health facilities require some more manpower, including doctors and nurses. In 2022, more than 1,100 medical officers were appointed. This time more than 1,200 medical officers from the new recruitment drive will be posted at the rural health facilities. The West Bengal Health Recruitment Board (WBHRB) has started processing the recruitments. The Bengal government will recruit 621 assistant professors, 1,227 doctors (GDMOs) and more than 5,080 nursing staff to fill vacant posts at state medical facilities.
The Health department also plans recruitment of medical technologists. Applications for assistant professors’ posts are from various disciplines, including cardiac, CTVS, ENT, plastic surgery, chest medicine, urology and infectious diseases.
The number of seats in MBBS and PG courses had increased in the past few years but the vacant faculty posts at medical colleges increased the teacher student ratio. Vacancies at medical colleges in districts are higher than that in the city.
The Mamata Banerjee government has already started the process of revamping the infrastructure at block and primary health centres, in addition to wellness centres or Suswasthya Kendras (SSK) which will serve the rural population.
Another concern is about the posts reserved for OBC and 344 posts to be filled by male nurses. Meanwhile, the National Medical Commission (NMC) had pointed out that there is a shortage of faculty in medical colleges across India, including in Bengal.
The number of faculty members at medical colleges has not increased, as prescribed under NMC norms. The new medical colleges, too, need enough faculty members, the NMC had suggested.
