Gujarat govt’s way of luring docs to small towns: Pay them double, hack juniors’ fees

How does a government tempt senior doctors into taking up positions in the acutely short-staffed medical colleges in small towns? Lure them with a better pay packet, of course. But then, how to meet the extra expense? As the Gujarat government has shown, the easiest way out is to mercilessly hack the stipends of junior resident doctors and a create a horribly skewed salary structure for doctors in the state. Needless to say, government doctors in Gujarat are not a happy lot.

Earlier this month, the Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society (GMERS) published a notification stating that the salary of junior doctors shall be reduced from Rs 85,000 per month to Rs 65,000 per month, while the package for senior doctors who agree to take up peripheral postings will be as high as Rs 5.22 lakh per month.

“The priority of the state government was to find more senior doctors for peripheral MCHs (medical college hospitals), and it is necessary to compensate for the high salaries of peripheral doctors from somewhere. Besides, Rs 65,000 per month is quite enough for junior cadres of doctors,” said Health Minister Rushikesh Patel.

Doctors needed

The move came after GMERS opened five new MCHs in Porbandar, Godhra, Rajpipla, Morbi, and Navsari districts last year. During their opening, doctors from cities were transferred en masse to fill those positions. But they are now back to their original postings. Hence, the five hospitals now have buildings, infrastructure, medical students, and patients, but in desperate need of doctors willing to work in these small towns.

Noticeably, the salary being offered in this “Special Recruitment Drive” to fill vacancies of professors and associate professors for four of these GMERS medical colleges is twice that of their counterparts in other peripheral MCHs and three times more than what the state pays the same doctors in civil hospitals. The postings are on 12-month contracts.

“There are massive vacancies for doctors at GMERS Porbandar MCH despite recruitment sessions carried out for more than three months, which is why the fixed pay for doctors willing to go to Porbandar is the highest,” said an official from the state health department requesting anonymity.

Skewed salaries

The clinical professors willing to join Porbandar MCH will get Rs 5.22 lakh per month, which is 89 percent more than the salary of a similar post in Vadnagar, Valsad, Junagadh, and Navsari GMERS MCHs. The salary being offered for taking up posting in Porbandar GMERS is also a whopping 183 percent more than those in the same post in the six Government Medical Colleges (GMCs) across the state. Associate professors at Porbandar have been offered a salary of Rs 4.55 lakh, which is 89 percent higher than other peripheral GMERS MCHs and 171 percent more than other GMCs.

To accept postings in Godhra, Rajpipla, and Morbi, clinical professors will get Rs 4.47 lakh per month, which is 62 percent more than their colleagues at Vadnagar, Valsad, Junagadh, and Navsari GMERS and MCHs. The salary is also 142 percent more than those in the same post at the six GMCs across the state. The associate professors accepting postings at these hospitals will get Rs 3.90 lakh, which is 62 percent higher than other peripheral GMERS MCHs and 132 percent more than GMCs.

Artificial shortage?

However, the decision of the Gujarat government has not gone down well with doctors. In a six-page letter to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, the GMERS Faculty Association has accused the state of creating an artificial shortage of medical manpower in the GMERS MCHs. The letter has also accused the government of creating a pay disparity between doctors, claiming that the move, in the long run, will have an adverse impact on public-sector healthcare and medical education in Gujarat.

“GMERS received more than 2,500 applications when it decided to hold ad-hoc recruitment in 2022, which goes on to prove that there is no shortage of doctors. However, the GMERS authorities declared that it will be a 12-month contractual tenure, which has no job security or guarantee of continuation of service to obtain a promotion. This is the primary reason why it cannot find doctors for peripheral districts,” said Dr Hiren Prajapati, president of the doctors’ association of GMERS.

Over 500 doctors are awaiting departmental promotions in GMERS, which is being delayed due to the shortage of senior professors and HODs. None of the 13 MCHs have full-time deans or superintendents, leaving their functioning in the hands of the doctors in charge with multiple responsibilities, added the letter.

The association has also warned of imminent protests if the order for double pay at the peripheral MCHs is not withdrawn immediately.

Noticeably, in September, the Gujarat Health Ministry hiked the salaries of doctors for these peripheral hospitals by fifty percent but still found no takers. In 1995, the Gujarat government has given similar incentives when doctors were unwilling to go to Rajkot and Bhavnagar GMCs.