COVID-19: Odisha government regularises service of PG doctors who served during pandemic

The government's decision will benefit the PG medical officers and dental surgeons who belonged to the 2017 and 2018 batches

The Odisha government has decided to regularise the service of the postgraduate medical students who were engaged in COVID-19 duties. The move was taken after the concerned students requested for the same to be done so that they could continue their duties and earn the benefits. As per a report by The New Indian Express, the government's decision will benefit the PG medical officers and dental surgeons who belonged to the 2017 and 2018 batches. It was in view of the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020 that the Medical Council of India (MCI) issued an advisory for the final-year PG students to continue in their respective medical colleges and hospitals (MCHs) beyond the normal tenure to ensure that there was no shortage of residents in handling the pandemic. Accordingly, the Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET) Odisha instructed the medical colleges to make sure of the availability, accommodation and payment of stipends to all such final-year PG students during the extended periods in 2020 and 2021. Since the medical officers and dental surgeons continued in their respective MCHs, they had requested the Department of Health and Family Welfare for the regularisation of their extended PG period to facilitate the continuity of their service and the sanction of annual increments. The students had made the requests through several proposals and representations sent to the Health Department. The department then decided that the extended PG period of the medical officers/dental surgeons of the 2017 and 2018 batches belonging to the Odisha Medical and Health Service (OMHS) cadre and OMS (Dental) cadre will be treated as duty, as per the TNIE report. The concerned authorities under whose administrative control the medical officers/dental surgeons were posted after the completion of their PG study have been asked to draw their salary for an extended period which went beyond the normal tenure under the government's decision, as informed by an official of the Health Department.

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