In an apparent attempt to woo the specialist doctors, Punjab Health Department has decided to give them posting at the hospital and dispensary nearby their home.

For the same purpose, the state Health and Family Welfare Minister Brahm Mohindra asked the Director Health Services (DHS) to prepare the list of the newly-appointed doctors clearly indicating their home addresses.

“All the doctors will be posted at the hospital and dispensary nearby their home. I do not want that doctors have to meet political bigwigs and put pressure on them for transfers. That’s why I have ordered the DHS to post doctors near their homes so as to ensure the efficiency and quality work,” said Mohindra on the sidelines of a function to handover appointment letters to MBBS doctors.

Appointment letters to as many 306 newly-recruited MBBS doctors were handed over by the Minister in a simple but impressive function organised at the Auditorium of Punjab Health System Corporation, SAS Nagar Mohali.

Visually ecstatic Brahm Mohindra congratulated the newly-appointed doctors and said that he was quite relieved today as this new batch of 306 doctors has become the family of Punjab Health Department.

“When I joined the Ministry on March 16, 2017, I was shocked to see that Health Department was totally in shambles. There was acute shortage of specialist doctors, Medical officers, ANMs and paramedical staff,” he said.

He said that he set his priority to fill the vacant posts of doctors and paramedical staff, and today, he was satisfied to see that a large batch of medical officers was joining the Health Department.

Mohindra exhorted the doctors to be ready to serve the community with missionary zeal and to wipe off the tears and agonies of the poor and downtrodden by adopting sympathetic approach.

The Health Minister said that the doctors were earlier reluctant to join the government service as they had to perform the service at basic salary during the probation period. He said he himself was aghast at this decision of the previous government as no doctor was willing to join the government service at this paltry basic salary.

He said that he immediately brought this issue to the notice of Chief Minister and had series of meetings with the Finance Minister and got the approval to recruit doctors on full salary.

He said that now in the next phase specialist doctors would be recruited, the process for the selection is underway and hopefully these specialist doctors will soon join the Health Department.