PANAJI
Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Monday announced the retirement age of government doctors will be increased from 60 to 62 while that of the teaching staff at Goa Medical College (GMC) would be 65.
Speaking at the launch of the Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana (DDSYA), Parsekar said with the increase in number of government-run hospitals in the State, the need for more doctors was necessary. He also added the government would work towards increasing the number of MBBS seats from the existing 150 to 200.
“Across the country, there is a shortage of doctors which is why the retirement age has been increased. In Goa there is a problem with teaching faculty as well. If we want to tackle the problem of shortage of doctors, we need to increase the number of seats. But these too, we would be able to make use of only after 8 years. Therefore the retirement age of doctors will be increased from 60 to 62 and that of teaching faculty will be increased from 60 to 65,” he said.
He also added that the increase the in retirement age would be effective from June 1 and that the government would work on the necessary formalities on Tuesday.
Stating that there was an increase in the number of health centers which in turn required more doctors, Parsekar said the need would be met only with an increase in the number of pass-outs from GMC.
“As more hospitals are being built the need for doctors is also increasing. We will have to wait for some time before the new batch graduates next year. We increased the number of medical seats from 100 to 150 and we now want to increase it further to 200 if we come to power next time,” he said.
In addition, he also announced that the Margao District Hospital would be ready by November. The top two floors of the hospital would constitute a nursing institute that would generate an additional 100 qualified nurses for the State.
