Govt to give doctors choice to pick rural posting

The health minister has announced to give posting to newly recruited doctors “in rural areas” as per their choices in his latest effort to ensure availability of doctors in remote areas.

Mohammed Nasim made the announcement as the Health Ministry welcomed 6,151 doctors on Thursday in its service, in the biggest ever recruitment at a time by the Public Service Commission.

He asked them to pick their own villages to serve the people where they grew up.

“We’ll post you in the next one week,” he said at Bangabandhu International Conference Center that wore a festive look with the crowd of more than 6,000 doctors who also submitted their joining letter at their reception ceremony.

The PSC started the recruitment process in February, 2012 upon health ministry’s request to fill up vacant posts and to send doctors at rural workplaces, which is a challenge for the government.

Authorities used to threaten doctors using rhetoric to make them stay at their workplaces, but on Thursday the minister for the first time offered them choices for their positing.

Offering them incentives, he also announced that he would prioritise their higher studies and “good posting” in future if they stay at least two years at villages.

He also warned them of adverse consequences if they failed to stay in villages.

He said rural Bangladesh’s lifestyle had been changed a lot and “with electricity everywhere it’s not a problem to live in villages”.

“There is no formalin (contaminated food) in villages, it’s all in Dhaka,” he quipped.

He said the ministry was working on making a ‘doctors’ protection law ‘to save them from untoward situations against the backdrop of recent attacks on doctors by patients’ relatives.

“I don’t believe doctors do any harm intentionally,” he said, adding that “if they indulge in wrong practices, we have laws for that”.

He also warned against doctors’ strike. “There are ways to protest. You cannot take patients hostage to protest,” he told the new doctors.

Former health minister AFM Ruhal Haque, who initiated the process of recruiting this large number of doctors in one PSC exam, was also present on the occasion.

He also urged them to remain at their rural postings for a certain time.

Health Secretary MN Neazuddin said they would also consider posting “husband and wife together” at the same centre for their convenience, “if you want”.

Junior health minister Zahid Malik and Bangladesh Medical Association leaders also addressed the function.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University’s vice-chancellor Prof Pran Gopal Datta conducted a special session on autism for the new doctors as the government is planning to integrate the neuro-development disorder into primary healthcare.