In a major exercise to streamline the functioning of the AYUSH units of the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), the AYUSH Ministry promoted a panel of 78 AYUSH Physicians to the post of Chief Medical Officers in the Senior Administrative Grade on 5th March 2021. These AYUSH Physicians belong to the Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, Unani and Siddha disciplines, with the maximum number i.e., 39 officers being from Homoeopathy.
The Ayush units of CGHS play an important role in the Central Government firmament, treating nearly 6 lakh patients in a year. These units are being visited by an increasing number of clients in recent years, seeking solutions for general health and well-being, apart from treatment for disease conditions. Career progression through the instant set of promotions at the senior level is expected to have a positive impact on the CGHS healthcare system through man-power utilization.
This set of promotions of AYUSH Physicians, many of whom were in the pre-promotion level for many years, was made possible when new provisions of the DACP scheme were incorporated in the Recruitment Rules notified in June 2018. A total of 78 AYUSH physicians in Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, Unani and Siddha streams who were eligible for promotion to the level of Senior Administrative Grade were consequently considered in the DPC chaired by Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary to Government of India (AYUSH), held on 2nd February 2021.
The Committee considered the eligibility of the candidates based on the guidelines of the Department of Personnel & Training, that “While merit has to be recognized and rewarded, advancement in an officer’s career should not be regarded as a matter of course, but should be earned by dint of hard work, good conduct and result oriented performance”.
The Ayush units of CGHS are seeing many steps of infrastructure upgradation in the recent years. There are also plans to induct the cloud based Ayush Health Management Information System (A-HMIS) across the board in these units, which will further improve their efficiency and effectiveness. The current set of promotions is part of a set of HR initiatives which are being taken up to improve the functioning of the system, against the backdrop of the ambitions modernization plans.
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