The Health & Family Welfare Department of the Government of National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi issued a directive on Thursday, September 12, ordering all medical superintendents and medical directors to stop the engagement of senior residents (SR) and junior residents (JR) at their respective hospitals and institutions.
“All Medical Superintendents/Medical Directors, Health & Family Welfare Department, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, are hereby directed to stop engaging Senior Residents (SR)/Junior Residents (JR) at their own level in their respective hospital/institutions” read the notice.
This notice follows a recent meeting between members of the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) and Saurabh Bharadwaj, Delhi’s Health Minister, where concerns about "recruitment issues" were voiced.
To gain insight into the "recruitment issue," EdexLive spoke with Dr Dhruv Chauhan, a National Council Member of the Indian Medical Association - Junior Doctors Network (IMA-JDN) and a FAIMA delegation member.
According to Dr Chauhan, corruption and scams have affected the hiring process for some time now. "JRs and SRs are being asked to pay huge amounts to secure positions in hospitals and institutions. This is pure corruption and has been ongoing for years," Dr Chauhan stated.
Furthermore, he also highlighted that "favouritism" for candidates and the candidates having "connections with higher authorities" significantly influences hiring decisions.
Dr Chauhan further explained that, as a result of their meeting with the health minister, a new central committee will be formed to take over the recruitment of JR and SR doctors. "SR JR doctors recruitment issue to him just few days back and here is the result Now a centralised committee will be formed for recruitment of JR and SR doctors ," Dr Chauhan shared in a post on X.
He further added that the current recruitment system has led to numerous scams involving "dalals" (brokers). "Candidates are required to pay an amount to these brokers for a guaranteed placement in the hospital. However, once the payment is made, the candidates often fall victim to fraud," he explains.
Dr Chauhan concluded by informing EdexLive that the recruitment of JR and SR doctors is currently halted by the authorities and will only resume once the new central committee is established and guidelines are chalked out.
