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No takers for contractual radiologist positions
Not even a single radiologist showed up for the walk-in interview in response to the government’s recent advertisement for 15 contractual positions.
(Blurb) Govt offers ₹1 lakh per month whereas private hospitals offer more than double
Not even a single radiologist showed up for the walk-in interview in response to the government’s recent advertisement for 15 contractual positions.
Offering a monthly salary of ₹1 lakh, the health department had announced contractual positions for various medical specialists in June this year. While some of the vacancies in other medical specialisations were filled, the radiology posts remained barren because none of the applicants turned up for the interview.
Abhinav Trikha, director, National Health Mission, Punjab, confirmed the development, stating, “Some candidates had applied for the radiologist positions, but none appeared for the interview.”
Low pay is said to be the reason behind radiologists avoiding positions in government facilities. While the government offers a salary between ₹1 lakh to ₹1.5 lakh, radiologists in private centres and hospitals can easily earn ₹2-3 lakh per month.
It has been learned that the health department has been struggling for some time to attract radiologists to the government sector. The government had to empanel 512 private radio-diagnostic centres across the state earlier this year to provide essential diagnostic test services to the patients.
In many government hospitals, X-ray and ultrasound machines are available, but, owing to shortage of radiologists, these facilities continued to remain underutilised. Private radiologists are learnt to have been hired on an hourly basis.
Some private hospitals and diagnostic centres have already begun offering the bond money of ₹15 lakh to the post-graduation students which they have to pay to the government if they skip the mandatory two-year government service.
Trikha mentioned that the advertised positions were contractual and intended as a temporary measure. He added that the government regularly advertised permanent positions as well.
