Patna, Sept. 25: The state health department recently shuffled 227 doctors, including 18 civil surgeons. The move however, did not bring respite to eight senior doctors of the state health cadre who have been waiting for posting in the secretariat for over six months.

Sources in the health department said that the doctors in “shunting postings” were earlier considered for the ranks of civil surgeons, additional chief medical officers and other senior medical officers in the districts. However, because of personnel management policies of the government, these medical professionals are languishing in the secretariat even as many hospitals report acute shortage of doctors, said the sources.

“The government is totally insensitive to the needs and requirements of the doctors and hospitals. In the matter of transfer and postings, it is the bureaucrats who rule the roost even as health directorate, envisaged and conceptualised to further the cause of medical professionals in government services, has been made handicapped. In this scenario, this is hardly a surprise that many a doctors keep waiting for posting for months and even years in the department,” said a senior member of Bihar Health Services Association, a body which represents government doctors in the state.

He added: “It is very unfortunate that in the matter of transfers and postings of doctors, no rationality or logics are taken care of. It completely depends on the whims and fancies of the bureaucrats and their sub-ordinates. It is evident from the fact that in a time when the health department is struggling with shortage of doctors, so many of them have not been posted anywhere in the state.”

Doctors, on the other hand, rued that the state government’s dilly-dallying in posting them was also causing major financial difficulty for them as they were not getting salaries or any other remuneration.

“It has become a crisis like-situation for us as we have been going without salaries for the past so many months. We were hoping that during the much-awaited shuffling of doctors and civil surgeons, our postings too would be done. However, we are even more disappointed now. There is absolutely no communication or assurance from the department as to when will we be posted,” said a doctor, waiting to be posted, requesting anonymity.

Senior officials in the health department, on the other hand, said that the matter was still under consideration and postings of these doctors will be finalised within few months.

Meanwhile, the much awaited transfers in the state health cadre that were initiated in May this year but could not meet the June 30 deadline of the state government were notified last week. Through the notifications, 227 doctors including 18 civil surgeons and 173 medical officers were shuffled.

As per the notification Dr Lakhindra Prasad, who was earlier Darbhanga civil surgeon, was appointed as new chief medical officer of the state capital.

Of the total doctors transferred, 54 belonged to senior grade, including civil surgeons, district malaria officer, district tuberculosis prevention officer, district leprosy prevention officer, deputy directors, joint directors, deputy superintendents, additional chief medical officers and additional directors apart from 173 medical officers in the health cadre.