SAC approves grant of joining time extension to 254 Medical officers as one-time exception

Jammu: The State Administrative Council (SAC) which met here Wednesday under the chairmanship of Governor  Satya Pal Malik approved the proposal of the Health & Medical Education department to grant extension in the joining time of 254 Medical Officers as a onetime exception.
These Medical Officers shall be entitled to all service benefits including seniority from the actual date of their joining the Health Department in accordance with the Service Rules. Their appointments in the department shall remain protected for the period only for which extension has been sought.
On joining the department, they will have to work in far flung and backward areas of the state for a minimum period of five years.
Further, in future selections/appointments of Medical Officers, selectee medical officers shall not be allowed to continue with PG/tenures of Senior Residency/Registrarship/Demonstratorship and they will have only one choice either to opt for appointment or opt out and go for PG/tenures of Senior Residency/ Registrarship/ Demonstratorship.
It has been observed that Health and Medical Education Department refers posts of Medical Officers to J&K PSC for recruitment but out of the selected doctors many do not join for being under studies, pursuing PG/Senior Residency/Registrarship/ Demonstratorship in Government Medical Colleges of State including Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura and other institutions. Such selectees often plead for permission to continue their higher studies or other courses. Thus, posts though filled through a recruitment process, physically remain vacant which in turn adversely impacts the services offered by Government Hospitals in terms of critical healthcare.
Now the Government after careful consideration and in the interest of patient healthcare has decided that in future selectee Medical Officers shall not be allowed to continue with PG/tenures of Senior Residency/ Registrarship/Demonstratorship and they will have only one choice either to opt for appointment or opt out and pursue PG/tenures of Senior Residency/ Registrarship/Demonstratorship.
The decision will help to further improve patient care in hospitals across the state particularly in remote far flung and difficult areas.