Sukhu Rolls Out Concessions for Trainee Doctors in Shimla Even as Medical College Faculty Sound Strike Bugle Over "Administrative Apathy
SHIMLA: Amid brewing discontent within the medical fraternity and persistent friction over policy matters with the State Association of Medical and Dental College Teachers (SAMDCOT), Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday held an interactive session with newly inducted Medical Officers and Super Specialists.
The Chief Minister announced major policy concessions aimed at trainee doctors and in-service medical officers, in what political and medical observers view as a calculated outreach to placate restless healthcare cadres.
The government’s olive branch includes a directive to amend Himachal Pradesh’s PG/SS policy, allowing Job Trainee Medical Officers to compete under the 66.6% in-service General Duty Officer (GDO) quota for postgraduate admissions (MD/MS and MDS).
Sukhu also conceded a long-pending demand regarding parity, declaring that trainee officers would receive full GDO entitlements from their appointment date, state-sponsored salaries during their PG course, and a "sympathetic consideration" to exempt them from undergoing additional screening tests for regularisation.
A Concession Amid Mounting Friction
While the announcements bring immediate relief to the junior rung of government doctors, the meeting unfolded against a tense backdrop. Medical associations, prominently SAMDCOT, have been at loggerheads with the Sukhu administration over structural issues:
* Cadre and Promotion Disputes: Senior faculties and medical college teachers have vocally resisted bureaucratic moves such as cadre mergers and unilateral adjustments in medical college posts, calling for institutional autonomy and transparent promotion ladders.
* The Non-Practicing Allowance (NPA) Core: The simmering unrest among doctors across Himachal Pradesh continues to trace back to the rollback and contentious conditions surrounding the Non-Practicing Allowance (NPA), a grievance that was conspicuously absent from the day's announcements.
By focusing concessions strictly on newly appointed trainees and GDOs, critics argue the administration is addressing entry-level recruitment bottlenecks while tiptoeing around systemic fiscal and administrative demands raised by established medical college faculties.
Direct Entry for Premier Institutes: Merit vs. Seniority
In another notable policy intervention, the Chief Minister directed the Health Department to induct doctors who completed postgraduation from PGI Chandigarh and AIIMS New Delhi directly as Senior Residents and Tutor Specialists without a written test or interview, filling the 33.33% direct quota purely on academic merit.
While state officials argue this bypasses red tape and rapidly brings top-tier clinical talent into the state's lagging tertiary network, the move is already drawing scrutiny from local medical teachers. Medical associations have previously voiced wariness over ad-hoc and lateral fast-tracking mechanisms, cautioning that bypassing standard recruitment protocols risks demoralising locally trained postgraduate doctors and disturbing seniority hierarchies in medical academia.
Expansion Plans vs. Severe Ground-Level Vacancies
Sukhu also announced the creation of dedicated Geriatric Medicine Departments at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla, and Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (RPGMC), Tanda. Health Minister Dr. (Col.) Dhani Ram Shandil defended the government's track record, claiming operational staff strength across state health facilities had climbed from 35% under the previous BJP regime to approximately 80%, despite the withdrawal of the central Revenue Deficit Grant (RDG).
Yet, ground realities present a steeper climb. Himachal's medical colleges, especially newer peripheral institutions, continue to struggle with chronic shortages of super-specialists, faculty retention, and adequate infrastructure. While robotic surgery and overseas training visits were spotlighted as milestones of modernization, senior doctors observe that hi-tech initiatives cannot substitute for unresolved service conditions, timely promotions, and safe working environments.
Whether Sukhu’s policy assurances will translate into administrative notifications—or merely serve as a temporary balm against broader union agitation led by bodies like SAMDCOT—remains contingent on how swiftly the Health Department implements the promisedÙ amendments.
