The health ministry is apparently breaching its own order regarding the posting of the 605 newly recruited doctors of the 32nd special Bangladesh Civil Service Examination.
The shortage of doctors in some of the remote areas of the country has been a burning topic of discussion in recent times because most doctors want to work in the hospitals in the urban areas, especially the metropolitans.
According to the existing rules, every newly-appointed doctor must work at least two years in a grassroots level health centre.
But in reality, most of them find a way or other to either get posted somewhere near the capital city at the beginning of their jobs or before completing two years of grassroots level service.
The ministry has recently given definitive instruction to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) to give posting to the newly recruited physicians and dentists so that the crisis of doctors outside Dhaka could be overcome.
The Dhaka Tribune has learnt that the ministry big shots themselves have been making recommendations so that the recruits they favour are given posting in and around Dhaka.
The DGHS was reportedly told by the ministry to recruit only 30 MBBS and five dental surgeons in Dhaka.
However, seeking anonymity, a number of DGHS officials have told the Dhaka Tribune that they had already got more than 300 recommendations for posting in those 35 vacancies in Dhaka city.
Although the health directorate has advised the new recruits to join by tomorrow and is supposed to finalise their posting by then, sources said the postings could not be finalised till on Tuesday because of the flood of recommendations.
A DGHS official told the Dhaka Tribune that the health minister, the state minister, the health secretary, additional secretary, joint secretary and deputy secretary had already recommended more than 100 names for the 35 posts.
Moreover, the directorate has reportedly received another 200 recommendations from the high officials of the other ministries, ex-health ministers, parliament members, big businessmen, leaders of political parties and doctors’ associations – all of them want their favoured candidates posted in and around Dhaka.
The special BCS recruitment examination was held in 2011 to recruit 1,619 officials under the freedom fighter and tribal quota in different ministries. Of them, 605 were doctors, comprising 540 physicians and 65 dentists.
According to health ministry directive, Chittagong was supposed to get 55 doctors, Ranpur 125, Rajshahi 100, Barisal 105, Sylhet 65 and Khulna 60. Moreover, Dhaka and Chittagong were supposed to get five dentists each, Rangpur 17, Rajshahi eight, Barisal 12, Sylhet 10 and Khulna eight.
DGHS officials said although the postings were to be made on the basis of merit and the desire of the applicants, in reality, not a single candidate would be posted on the basis of merit.
They said each of the postings, especially those in and around Dhaka city, will be done on strong recommendations.
Dr Md Shah Newaz, director (administration) of DGHS, however, said: “Posting doctors on the basis of recommendations has become a tradition in the health sector. But this time we will not entertain any recommendation. We will not give posting to any of these doctors [in any hospital] above upazila level and below union sub-centres. None of them will get posting in any medical college.”
A total of 1,993 doctors have been appointed through general and special BCS examinations during the tenure of the current government. Moreover, a total of 4,133 doctors has been appointed on ad hoc basis.
