With the West Bengal Assembly elections scheduled for next year, the state government is set to launch a massive recruitment drive to strengthen health services. According to sources at Nabanna, the state secretariat, more than 8,000 doctors, nurses and health workers will soon be appointed across government hospitals, medical colleges and health centres to address the acute shortage of manpower in the state’s healthcare system.
The West Bengal Health Recruitment Board (WBHRB) has been entrusted with the responsibility of conducting the process, which officials say will be completed swiftly. As per the state government’s list, 1,848 vacancies for doctors and 5,018 for nurses will be filled. Among the doctors, 1,227 posts are for General Duty Medical Officers (GDMOs), while the remaining 621 are for specialist doctors, including 47 assistant professor positions in various branches of medicine.
“Specialist recruitment will require candidates to hold MD/MS or super-specialisation degrees such as DM or MCh. The highest number of appointments among assistant professors will be in General Medicine (48), Anesthesiology (47) and General Surgery (43),” said an officer of state health department.
In addition to doctors and nurses, the recruitment drive will also include over 600 medical technologists, 350 pharmacists and 31 radiophysicists. Vacancies for audiologists, speech pathologists, facility managers (formerly ward masters), professors at Jalpaiguri Pharmacy College, posts at the State Drug Laboratory and teaching positions in various nursing colleges will also be filled.
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Of the 5,018 nursing posts, 2,330 are for basic B.Sc. Nursing, 252 for post basic B.Sc. Nursing, 2,092 for GNM female nurses and 344 for GNM male nurses. In total, doctors and specialists will be recruited in 47 branches of medicine.
The recruitment will also extend to the newly inaugurated Government Yoga and Naturopathy Medical College in Kolkata’s adjoining Belur, Howrah, where teachers and doctors will be appointed. According to the health department’s proposal, all selections will be made on the basis of candidates’ qualifications and experience.
Officials emphasise that the large-scale hiring aims to not only fill existing vacancies but also enhance the overall quality of healthcare delivery in West Bengal ahead of the upcoming elections.
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