Doctors for rural govt posts demand huge salaries/payments

Mangalore Today News Network

July 20, 2017: Even as a young anesthetist with a year’s experience quoted Rs. 3.5 lakh as the monthly salary expected to join govt service, in the Karnataka Health Department’s online bidding process to recruit medical specialists.

The bids have put the department in a big fix.

The salaries that doctors want are higher than what the budget allows and even the lowest bidder (Rs. 1.5 lakh) has refused to join the General Hospital in Pavagada.

By contrast, an anaesthetist with 26 years of experience, posted in Tumakuru District Hospital, gets Rs. 1.1 lakh, including incentives. The disparity has dismayed in-service government doctors.

The ongoing bidding is an urgent effort by the State government to attract doctors to rural areas. It is, however, causing complications.

The programme attracted 5,262 doctors for 1,221 vacant posts till  July 17, Monday. The remuneration that the doctors want ranges from Rs. 1.2 lakh to Rs. 6 lakh per month.

While there is a great need for anaesthetists, the highest amount quoted, Rs. 6 lakh, is by obstetricians and gynaecologists.

Some of the lowest bids are from general surgery, orthopaedics and general medicine, ranging from Rs. 60,000 to Rs. 1.2 lakh,speciality-wise official data say. While general medicine, orthopaedics and ophthalmology specialists seek Rs. 5 lakh a month, general surgeons and paediatricians want Rs. 4.5 lakh or less.

The selection panel, headed by District Health and Family Welfare Officers, must negotiate to see that maximum emoluments do not cross Rs. 1.8 lakh, including a performance-based incentive of Rs. 70,000, but many specialists do not want to negotiate, officials pointed out. Sources said the Health Department has to now take approval from the Finance Department for the additional expenditure on the high bids.