SHILLONG, Feb 13: The Meghalaya Public Service Commission (MPSC) has not conducted the interview for recruiting medical and health officers (M&HOs) in the Health department.
Official sources on Sunday said the MPSC had issued an advertisement to fill up more than 100 vacant posts of M&HO in May last year.
They said many doctors, including those who had joined under regulation 3(f) in the last four years, had also applied for these posts.
According to regulation 3(f), continuance in service vis-à-vis regularisation in service thereof will depend upon being selected by the MPSC within the required position in the list of candidates recommended by the panel for regularisation.
Most of the doctors appointed under 3(f) are government-bonded.
The last interview conducted by the MPSC for the recruitment of M&HOs was in 2017.
An MPSC official claimed they have not been able to conduct the interview as the Director of Health Services is yet to submit the requirement. “It is for this reason that the whole process is delayed,” he said.
A Health department official claimed they had written to the MPSC a year ago for conducting the interview to fill up the 100-plus vacant posts of M&HO.
“The delay is by the MPSC and not by the department. We are ready to appoint the regular doctors as soon as the MPSC completes the interview and declares the merit list,” the official said.
A section of the doctors who have joined under 3(f) in the past four years wondered if preference will be given to them since they had already served the department, especially during the COVID-19 crisis in the past two years.
In 2002, the doctors who had served the department under 3(f) had found themselves at the bottom of the merit list compared to the doctors who had just attained an MBBS degree.
A senior official said more than 100 doctors were appointed under 3(f). “But we cannot assure that they will be given preference. We can only request the MPSC. It is for the MPSC to consider our request,” a senior official said.
MPSC Chairman PR Marwein was not available for comments as his mobile phone was out of reach.
Health Minister, James PK Sangma had recently said the state government was trying to address the issue of shortage of doctors at government-run healthcare centres.
“This is a big challenge for us,” he had said.
“We want to improve the ratio. We are also trying to ensure quick response time and provide quality healthcare to the citizens,” he said.
A senior Health department official had earlier said very few turned up when the state government advertised for filling up the vacant posts of doctors.
“Based on the vacancy, there is a shortage of more than 100 doctors. The Health department could not even get 50 doctors to appoint on a contractual basis for tackling the COVID-19 situation,” he had stated.