The West Bengal health department recently changed the rules for appointing senior residents (SR) through bond postings for postgraduate doctors with MD-MS degrees. A new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) regarding these appointments was issued on February 26. However, the new rules sparked controversy because they did not prioritise merit lists.
The situation escalated further when the Health Department released a notification on Thursday, appointing 930 senior residents under the new rules. The decision triggered strong reactions from doctors’ organisations, who alleged that the posting process lacked transparency and ignored merit-based procedures.
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On Friday, several organisations representing aggrieved doctors went to the health department to submit memorandums regarding the issue. Delegations met the health secretary and the director of health education to express their concerns.
According to protesting doctors, nearly 80 percent of the senior residents listed in the notification have been posted in their first year itself to district hospitals, subdivision hospitals, or state general hospitals outside medical college-level institutions. This has led to fresh allegations that the appointments were made without following merit lists or counselling procedures.
Doctors’ groups claim that the process followed by the health department was arbitrary and lacked transparency. They alleged that a “pick and choose” system was used, which has resulted in discrimination and deprived many qualified doctors of fair opportunities.
Sajal Biswas, general secretary of the government doctors’ organisation Service Doctors Forum, criticised the decision. He said, “The health department recently published guidelines regarding senior resident postings. But posting lists have been published without following the counselling process according to existing rules. Corruption and irregularities in the posting process are creating complete chaos, which will have a massive impact on health services.”
The protesting doctors also warned that they may launch a larger movement if their demands are not addressed.
Aniket Mahato, a protesting doctor whose legal battle over senior resident postings had earlier drawn attention before the new rules were introduced, said, “A movement must be built against the health department's undemocratic and discriminatory senior resident postings. Merit-based counselling should be introduced immediately.”
Biplob Chandra, secretary of the state committee of the Medical Service Centre, also issued a statement criticising the move. He said, “We strongly protest the way the health department has curtailed the constitutional right to equality of SRs by issuing posting notices.”
The West Bengal Doctors Forum has written to the Chief Minister demanding that Thursday’s notification be immediately reconsidered and that a transparent and merit-based counselling system be reintroduced for SR bond postings.
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Another organisation, the Association of Health Service Doctors, has also submitted a memorandum to the health department. The group alleged that the new posting list reflects administrative arbitrariness and violates fair recruitment practices.
Utpal Bandyopadhyay, general secretary of the organisation, said, “An opaque ‘pick-and-choose’ method has been introduced by arbitrarily changing the SOP. This is an attempt to institutionalise nepotism. Because many preferred candidates have been posted to medical colleges in Kolkata and nearby districts.”
Doctors’ organisations have demanded that the controversial notification be withdrawn immediately and that senior residents be given postings through a transparent and merit-based counselling process.
