Bengaluru: Spectrum, Natural Resources and the like have in the recent past been auctioned to prevent corruption and to even the playing field. Government Procurement is based on the lowest tender system also a form of auction, but in reverse. But the Karnataka Government has created a first. Running out of options to lure specialists to serve in the government hospitals in rural areas, the Karnataka state health department has taken to online bidding to attract specialists. It has begun to reverse auction it’s jobs. But this is a first.
Today’s Newspapers carry an advertisement for open bids for performance-linked remuneration to fill specialists’ posts on contract. While the base price of Rs. 1.30 Lakhs has been mentioned for High Priority Districts, for Non High Priority Districts, it is Rs. 1.10 Lakhs. Both are negotiable.
As per the bidding, the doctors can quote their expected pay package to serve in government hospitals located in the rural areas. The move comes in the backdrop of the government having exhausted all alternatives to overcome shortage of specialists.
Health minister Ramesh Kumar told the reporters here: “What can we do as specialist doctors are not willing to work in government hospitals despite being offered salaries up to Rs 1.25 lakh? Since they are not keen on the pay package offered by us we want them to suggest how much they want. If their bids are approved by the government, they will be appointed.”
Kumar said the doctors can quote their pay package on the department’s website: www.karhfw.gov.in
“There is a shortage of 1,035 specialists in government hospitals. We have invited applications over a hundred times for specialists but they do not seem to be keen in serving in rural areas. We have upgraded the district and taluk level hospitals by pumping in thousands of crores but the irony is that doctors are not ready to practice. Most badly affected are the poor patients,” Kumar said.
The government even tried to overcome the shortage by invoking legal provisions against post-graduate doctors who have studied under the government quota and have refused to mandatorily serve in rural areas but to no avail. Another solution mooted was to hire doctors on a temporary-basis, but the response was low. “With all the options running out we want doctors to quote their price,” a senior health department official said.
Docs in trouble
Meanwhile, as many as 661 of the 1,159 postgraduate doctors who pursued Post graduation under the government quota and signed the mandatory bond to serve in rural areas or pay a penalty but reneged on it, are in for trouble. According to a report in the Hindu, Health Minister K.R. Ramesh Kumar has written to the Karnataka Medical Council (KMC) to cancel the registration of the 661 doctors who have failed to comply with the bond. Although 3,702 candidates, including undergraduate doctors should have taken up one year of compulsory rural service from 2008-2014, only 86 had taken up the service while some paid the penalty. Of the 1,159 postgraduate doctors, 661 have neither paid penalty nor reported for rural service, said the letter.
In the bond, postgraduate doctors have given an undertaking that they will render one year of compulsory rural service or pay a penalty of Rs. 10 lakh to the government. The Health Department is also issuing a public notice warning the doctors of action.
Terming the non-compliance of bonds as a violation of the Medical Council of India’s Code of Medical Ethics Regulations 2002, Ramesh Kumar has said disciplinary action would be initiated against the violators in the interest of the public.
Shalini Rajneesh, Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare), is reported to having told the Hindu that one-year rural service is mandatory for doctors who have graduated through government quota. “This is in accordance with the amendment to Rule 11 of the Karnataka Selection of Candidates for Admission to Government Seats in Professional Education Institutions Rules, 2006. Violating the undertaking given by them in the bonds is also professional misconduct,” she said.
KMC president H. Veerabhadrappa said the council would be able to take action only after the department issues a public notice. However the Times of India on May 30 reported that the KMC registrar Dr B P S Murthy sent notices to 216 doctors seeking explanation as to why actions should not be initiated against them for failing to serve in rural areas. The doctors have been given 15 days’ time to reply.
