10 May 2010
By Geeta Desai
The civic body will float tenders to recruit specialists and super specialists at its Govandi-Shatabdi Hospital
The tender–happy babus of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have outdone themselves. They are planning to float tenders, normally used for civic purchases and projects, to–hold your breath–recruit doctors.
The BMC will use the time–honoured bureaucratic procedure for hiring specialists and super–specialists for the 24X7 trauma care centre at its Govandi–Shatabdi Hospital. The hospital was recently renovated with the Rs 50 crore allotted to this end.
According to Rahul Shewale, corporator and standing committee chairman, the Medical Council of India rules do not allow BMC to employ specialists till all posts for professors have been filled.
Sources said that there are currently many vacancies for professors.
“Because of this, there is a shortage of specialists and super specialists in many hospitals. We want to get the best treatment for the critical care unit. Floating tenders is our best option,” said Shewale.
The civic administration will thus use tenders to get around the issue without breaking the rules.
“We have been appointing the panel of specialists and super–specialists for peripheral hospitals as consultants and honorary doctors. For the first time, we are floating tenders for them,” said Seema Malik, chief medical superintendent in–charge of city’s 16 peripheral hospitals.
She added that the panel for hospitals like Bhagwati–Borivali, Siddharth–Goregaon, Bandra Bhabha were consultants.
Doctors recruited through tenders will be in service for a year and will be paid competitively.
“The base remuneration will be fixed by the authority as per the current market rates. The service conditions will be specified by the expert committee of civic doctors,” said an official who did not wish to be named.
An official said, “There is always a shortage of super–specialists like radiologists and anaesthetists at BMC–run hospitals”. This way, we can attract the best from the private sector.
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