By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Plagued by the perennial shortage of specialist doctors in the State, the Government is contemplating creation of a corpus fund to enable the State to send its doctors, who are engaged in active service, to pursue post-graduate (PG) studies in various medical colleges outside the State.
Informing this here on Thursday, a senior government official said that the Government is coming up with this corpus fund to address the shortage of specialist doctors in the State.
“At the moment, the State has a shortage of as many as 150 specialist doctors. Since it is not possible for the State to overcome this shortage, the only way out is to have a scheme whereby the State would sponsor in-service doctors to pursue post graduate studies in other medical institutions in the country,” the official added.
The State Government can send around 10 to 20 doctors in a year to various medical institutions to pursue their PG courses, he said, while adding that a bond agreement can be signed with these sponsored doctors so that they return back to the State for posting. As there is only seven State sponsored seats PG seats in Imphal, the doctors who do not wait for the government quota undertake PG studies at their own expense in other medical colleges and there is nothing binding on them to return back to the State to serve in government hospitals, the official added.
“This problem can be solved if the government creates a corpus fund to sponsor doctors for PG medical studies,” he said.
The State government sends 40 to 45 students every year under the State quota for the five-year MBBS courses but not all of them return back to the State despite availing the state quota, scholarships and book grants provided by the government.
This has resulted in shortage of general doctors in the rural areas of the State.