Odisha Govt to now offer CPS Mumbai courses

BHUBANESWAR: The peripheral hospital paucity of doctors and specialists has led to the state government deciding to start a two-year Post Graduate Diploma course in different branches of medical science from next year.

At a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary, Aditya Padhi, a decision has been taken that PG diploma courses are to be offered in government medical colleges and district headquarters hospitals, elevated to the status of medical colleges.

Select specialists with 10 years of experience are to be sent for training to the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Mumbai. These trained specialists are to act as teacher/trainers for MBBS doctors doing diploma courses in radiology, paediatrics, ophthalmology, obstetrics and gynaecology, anesthesiology, and orthopaedic.

According to Health and Family Welfare Department sources, the courses will be provided at Capital Hospital and all other district headquarters hospitals for which approval has already been granted by the government.

120 specialist doctors who will be ready to take on responsibility by 2020 will be posted in peripheral hospitals, where such posts are lying vacant.

Meanwhile, the state government is paying Rs. 80,000 per month, as an incentive to doctors to lure them to work in rural areas, every month.This amount is 100 percent extra against the salary of a specialist working in vulnerable areas and Rs 40,000 extra in comparison to the amount paid to doctors posted in difficult terrains.

1,751 government hospitals have been divided into five categories, by the state government .V0 being the least vulnerable of hospitals and V5 -the most vulnerable. This division has been made based on ground realities such as backwardness, tribal dominance, Left Wing Extremism, road or train communication, distance from the state headquarters and social infrastructure.

The number of vacancies in some V areas has reduced to 16, while in V4 areas 52 doctor posts lie vacant.

Lack of doctors in inaccessible tribal dominated areas is a major state problem.

The Chief Secretary has further asked the department to take appropriate action against those doctors who have been on unauthorized leave for an unduly long duration of time, reports TNIE.