Bengal Health Dept raises ceiling on trainee reserve doctors
Kolkata, Aug 7
The West Bengal Health Department on Friday issued a notification increasing the ceiling on the maximum permissible number of doctors that can be kept under the "trainee reserve" category.
Earlier, the figure was 477 and, as per the state government notification, henceforth the number of in-service doctors that can be kept in the "trainee reserve" category will be increased to 662.
"Trainee reserve" category doctors are in-service government medical officers who are temporarily released from their regular duties, but continue to be in service, to pursue government-sponsored postgraduate (PG) degree or diploma courses. This facility is extended mainly to medical officers posted in rural or remote medical outposts.
According to a senior officer of the Health Department, the decision has been taken to increase the number of specialist doctors in the state-run medical system in West Bengal.
Medical officers from the categories of West Bengal Health Service, West Bengal Public Health Administrative Service and West Bengal Health Education Service are included under this "trainee reserve" category.
The West Bengal Doctors' Forum welcomed the decision. They said that following the move, more doctors will get the opportunity to pursue higher studies.
"Earlier, if the limit of 'trainee reserve' was filled, many doctors were deprived of the opportunity to go for higher studies like MD or MS courses even if they were eligible. Now, many more doctors will be able to take leave to pursue higher studies. As a result, the number of specialist doctors will increase in West Bengal. The quality of future services will improve further. The possibility of postgraduate seats getting wasted will also be ruled out following the increase in the number of 'trainee reserve' category," a forum representative said.
The demand to raise the ceiling for the "trainee reserve" category doctors had been raised for a long time by different forums of medical practitioners in the state, who argued that the increase would help avoid, or at least reduce, the wastage of postgraduate seats in medical sciences.
After the regime change in West Bengal, the new state government, with a practising doctor as the state's new Health Minister, assured positive steps on this count.
— IANS
Reader Comments
This is a step in the right direction. But the real question is - will these doctors actually come back to serve in rural Bengal after their PG? Many leave for private practice or bigger cities. The government needs to ensure there's a proper bond system so rural patients benefit from this move.
As someone from a small town in Bengal, this gives me hope. Our rural hospitals suffer from shortage of specialists. If more doctors can study further, maybe we won't have to travel to Kolkata for every major treatment. Ekta doctor dost ke liye bahut accha hoga! 😊
Good to see the new government addressing this long-pending demand. The increase from 477 to 662 is substantial - almost 39% more. This means more PG seats won't go waste, which benefits the entire medical education ecosystem. But the government must also ensure that these doctors are eventually posted where they're needed most.
While this is welcome, I hope the selection process remains transparent and merit-based. Sometimes these categories become a way for a few privileged doctors to get repeated study leaves while others in rural areas are overburdened. Need a fair rotation system. Otherwise, this will only help those with connections. 🤔
Proud of Bengal for taking this progressive step! 👏 The Doctors' Forum's point about PG seats going waste is very valid. With more specialists in the long run, our government hospitals will improve, and common people won't be forced to spend lakhs on private hospitals. Ab poora support karna chahiye is decision ko!
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.