West Bengal’s plan to recruit contractual doctors and nurses for state-run hospitals may take up to eight months to reach the ground because it requires approval from the state cabinet and the chief minister’s office, Health Minister Sharadwat Mukhopadhyay said on Friday. The proposed recruitment is intended to address vacancies across the public hospital system, with around 2,000 doctors and 8,000 to 10,000 nurses potentially being appointed.
Mukhopadhyay said the health department had begun preparing a proposal for cabinet approval a day after announcing the contractual recruitment plan. The proposal could be returned with changes or suggestions before the department proceeds with the next stage, he said.
“The proposal will then need a nod from the CMO too. A notification can be issued only after we receive all necessary approvals,” Mukhopadhyay said, explaining why the recruitment process could take several months even though the government intends to respond to immediate staffing shortages.
The minister said regular recruitment through the public service commission generally takes between 18 and 24 months. The health department therefore decided that it could not wait for the full regular recruitment cycle while hospitals continued to face vacancies. “The health department cannot sit idle for one and a half years. So, we will appoint staff — from doctors to Group D — on a contractual basis wherever needed,” he said.
The proposed appointments would cover doctors, nurses and other hospital staff. Contractual doctors would be permitted to undertake private practice, according to the report. The health department’s move follows concerns about staffing gaps in state-run facilities, where an estimate cited by a doctor put vacancies at more than 40% among general duty medical officers and 30% among specialists.
The proposal has also raised questions among nursing and medical associations about the status of earlier recruitment processes and the effect of contractual appointments on retention and accountability. Bhaswati Mukherjee, secretary of Nurses Unity, said the previous government had issued a notification to hire 7,000 nurses, but only 3,000 had been appointed and around 500 remained on a shortlist. She asked what would happen to those candidates.
The Association of Health Service Doctors warned that contractual appointments could affect accountability, discourage talent from joining the public system and increase attrition. Teachers at medical colleges also questioned whether the proposed contractual recruitment would extend to medical education. The health department’s proposal must now be placed before the state cabinet and subsequently sent for clearance from the chief minister’s office before a formal notification can be issued.
