Retirement age of govt docs likely to be raised to 65 yrs

LUCKNOW: The retirement age of doctors of UP government hospitals is likely to be increased from 60 years to 65 years.

The state government has asked director general, medical health, to submit a report along with a recommendation after which a decision will be taken by the cabinet.

Once implemented, the decision will affect the services of over 12,000 doctors in the state, 100 of whom are about to retire in a year.

This step is part of the initiatives that the UP government is taking to counter shortage of doctors at government hospitals. As per norms, there should be over 20,000 doctors, including specialists, at government hospitals across the state, but the actual number is almost half of this requirement.

To bridge the gap, the government is planning measures such as involving private sector doctors and increasing seats in medical institutions.

UP health minister Siddharth Nath Singh has been working on initiatives to improve the health care delivery system, which also includes introducing evening OPDs in state-run hospitals. Welcoming this proposal, doctors of the provincial medical services association (PMSA), a body of government doctors, said, “This will help solve shortage of doctors to some extent.”

The PMSA office bearers said they had submitted a similar proposal to the health minister on April 19 during a meeting.

They had also suggested other measures to improve the health care system in Uttar Pradesh.

PMSA also demanded there should be certain advantages with the extension of service years. “Not all doctors will want to this extension due to family or other reasons, so, this has to be optional,” said Dr Sachin Vaish, general secretary PMSA. He also advocated extra remuneration for doctors. “Working after the age of 60 years is tough. The majority retires at 58 years, however, if the state government wants us to work till 65 years, we will,” he added.

Recently, a proposal to increase the retirement age of state medical institute teachers from 65 to 70 years was also prepared by the department of medical education. It is awaiting the cabinet nod.

Not all doctors will want this extension due to family or other reasons. So, this has to be optional. DR SACHIN VAISH, general secretary PMSA