Rural dispensaries not to merge with health dept

Proposal hit a roadblock after rural medicos rejected offer to join health dept as juniors in PCMS cadre; both depts start process to fill vacancies of doctors

The Punjab government has dumped the proposal for merging dispensaries run by the rural development and panchayati raj department with the health and family welfare department. Both the departments are now starting recruitment process to fill vacancies of doctors.

The proposal for merging health services provided by rural development department was mooted by the then health minister Brahm Mohindra in 2017 to bring health services under one umbrella and meet the shortage of doctors by rationalising their appointments.

However, the proposal hit a roadblock after most of the doctors serving in rural dispensaries rejected the government offer to join the health department as juniors in Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) cadre. They are demanding seniority in PCMS from the date of joining the services as rural medical officers.

“The government tried its best to resolve the issue by but the rural medicos are not ready to leave their original seniority to join in any other cadre. The merger proposal has been kept aside as it could cause unnecessary legal hurdles,” a top government functionary told HT, on condition of anonymity.

Rural development and panchayati raj minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa said the merger is highly unlikely now as the Finance Commission had also reprimanded the department for going ahead with it.

“These dispensaries work under the zila parishad ambit which has the mandate to work in 35 areas, including running rural dispensaries. The finance commission, which visited Punjab six months ago, had raised strong objections to this proposal, citing that Punjab has already merged rural teachers with the education department and now merging rural dispensaries would further deteriorate the mandate of the zila parishad,” said Bajwa.

As many as 765 MBBS doctors are serving in 1,186 dispensaries under the rural department opened by the government in 2006 with an aim to provide better health care facilities in farflung areas. Notably, 96 rural doctors even had agreed to the original proposal to join the health department on fresh seniority but they were also not inducted by the health department.

Health and family welfare minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said there has not been any “strong follow-up” from either the health or the rural department on the issue. “The proposal was mooted to fill the shortage of doctors but in the past one year, the health department has recruited more than 1,000 doctors in vacancies,” he said.

On the other hand, the rural department has also decided to fill 450 vacancies of doctors for which the finance department has already given in-principal approval. “Moreover, the government last month decided to make these dispensaries as outpatient opioid assistant treatment (OOAT) centres.

Welcoming the move to keep the proposal in abeyance, Rural Doctors Association state president Dr Aslum Parvez said, “Thankfully, the wisdom has prevailed in the government circles.” He added, “We are happy that our department stood by us. Despite working for more than a decade, rural medicos have been denied seniority in the PG classes like PCMS doctors. The salary dispute has also been an issue.”

The finance commission that visited Punjab in January had also raised strong objections to the merger. TRIPT RAJINDER BAJWA, rural devp and panchayati raj minister There has not been any strong follow-up from either the health or the rural department on the issue. BALBIR SINGH SIDHU, health and family welfare minister