State ready to pay Rs 2 lakh salary for doctors willing to serve in rural regions

State is ready to sanction Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 lakh salary to specialist doctors willing to serve in rural regions But even this offer has failed to attract doctors to serve in rural areas Special Recruitment Regulations drawn up to fill as many as 1065 specialists and 365 general practitioners vacant posts 

The State Government has already fixed a salary of Rs 1.25 lakh per month for doctors who are willing to serve in rural regions. If need be the government is ready to sanction salaries up to Rs 2 lakh. However specialists are not willing to take up rural service. “Poor things, they are worried about their health to go to villages” quipped Health Minister Ramesh Kumar, at the Assembly Session on Thursday.

He was answering a question by Shivananda Patil of Congress. A Special Recruitment Regulations has been drawn on May 24 to fill up as many as 1065 specialists and 365 general practitioners urgently.  The KPSC will soon start the recruitment process. However, the respective DCs are already given permission to appointment specialists and general practitioners on an adhoc basis.

Paramedical staff posts totalling 2144 have already been filled up.  A GO has already been issued to fill up 3,274 paramedical posts on May 30. Action has been initiated to recruit 889 nurses on special appointment. 506 junior lab technicians, and 510 pharmacists and other post are being filled up, he explained.

A decision will soon be taken to centralise all health services grants under the Sarvatrika Arogya Raksha Kavacha, providing free medical services to all said Ramesh Kumar. Replying to a question by K Gopalaiah of JD(S), he said, the intention is to provide all medical services schemes grants of State and Central governments consolidated under one major project.

It has also been decided to provide free vehicle services to transport dead bodies in the event of death of patients in the government hospitals. Stringent actions will be taken against any staff violating this rules, he said. Answering a query by Koratagere MLA Sudhakara Lal, he clarified that an order to this effect was already issued in February last.