298 specialists will be appointed on contract basis: Sriramulu

 
Briefing media persons here on Thursday Health Minister B Sriramulu said the specialists will be appointed on the contract basis as there was no provision for direct recruitment as per the C and R Rules at present. He said if the proposal for direct recruitment of specialists gets clearance, the department would accord priority to the doctors who are serving the bond period.

The department recently received permission from the Finance Department to enforce the bond signed by Postgraduate students to work in rural areas for three years once they graduate. The minister said that the students would be asked to work for two instead of three years in rural areas. However, if the students were unwilling to comply, the department would ask them to pay compensation of Rs 5 lakh. The department faces shortage of 500 specialists across the state.

The department conducted a counselling and posted 373 MBBS doctors via KPSC to various PHC in the state. The minister said that this brings down the number of vacancies for MBBS doctors to 89. Even here, the students will be bound to pay Rs 3 lakh if they deny serving the bond period.

Dengue deaths 

The minister said that 32 cases related to dengue had come to light. The department formed a team and examined all the 32 cases out of which only four were due to dengue. The minister stressed that the other deaths were not due to dengue. As for H1N1 Influenza, there were 110 deaths in the state this year, with the total death toll since last August coming to 245.

Vajpayee Arogyashri

Nearly, 2,842 BPL members out of 16 lakh in Gulbarga division with six districts have benefited from the Vajpayee Arogyashri scheme, which ensures free treatment for specialty treatment, the minister said. He added that about Rs 14.5 crore had been spent and two hospitals were also identified in the division.

The scheme will now be enforced in Belgaum division, which has seven districts under it. The minister said that Rs 20 crore pending from previous year and Rs 40 crore sanctioned for this year will be enough to take care of both the divisions.