Faced with the problem of doctors unwilling to take up postings in rural areas, the Raman Singh government in Chhattisgarh has initiated a process to appoint students who have passed a controversial three- year medical course as “Rural Medical Assistants”. This step would ensure 100 per cent placement for those who completed the course which was earlier scrapped by the BJP regime itself.

The state health department has issued an advertisement to fill up 859 posts of Rural Medical Assistants to work under the National Health Mission. Those who have passed the three-year medical course, now known as ‘Practitioner in Modern and Holistic Medicine’, are eligible to apply. The state has also sought approval from the Centre to appoint 300 more Rural Medical Assistants under the National Mission so that all those who had completed the course can get jobs.

The appointment will be made on a contract basis with a consolidated pay of Rs 8,000 per month, a health department spokesperson said.

After the formation of Chhattisgarh in November 2000, the then Ajit Jogi government approved a three- year medical degree course, aiming at creating a new stream of allopathic practitioners so as to send them to areas of the state where other doctors are unwilling to serve.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA), Medical Council of India (MCI) and even doctors within the state had opposed the move, Jogi, however, stuck to his stand, arguing that the state would provide students with jobs once they pass the course. The decision was also taken in context of a situation in which MBBS doctors were unwilling to serve in rural areas where many people die of malaria and diarrhoea every year.

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