PANAJI: The directorate of health services’ second attempt in the last one-and-half month to hire MBBS doctors has been unsuccessful. Only four candidates showed up last week when it conducted walk-in-interviews for 50 posts. The response has been poor even after dropping the eligibility criteria of residence certificate hoping that at least candidates from neighbouring states will respond. Last month, it drew nil response. “We will now appoint Ayush doctors,” director health services Jose D’Sa told TOI. The government has been on a spree to hire doctors and nurses to fill the glaring shortfall felt in hospitals as the number of Covid-19 cases skyrocketed. People aware of ground realities said that it is not easy to hire doctors, because the majority may be preparing for National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and secondly, there is hardly anybody available locally who is without a job. Panaji-based Dr Govind Kamat said that even if it is considered that Goa produces 150 doctors — Goa Medical College (GMC) offers 180 seats — considering failures and other factors — every year, the majority pursue higher studies. “They aren’t interested in joining at the entry-level. Of these, 15% will be from other states. Once they get their degree from Goa University, they will either go back to their home state or take admission for post-graduation,” Kamat said. The pool of doctors available for hire is very narrow, Kamat said. The few who are interested in joining are likely to be discouraged because they will be posted on Covid duty immediately after joining, a senior government official said. “We happily joined government service for two decades at whatever salary was offered to us then, but I don’t think the salary of Rs 65,000 is attractive to the present generation of doctors who are ambitious,” he said. Goa Resident Doctors Association (GARD) president Dr Pratik Sawant said that the availability is meagre as fresh graduates are serving their bond after getting their degrees. Over the last decade, it has also been difficult for private hospitals to hire MBBS doctors as residents unless they are willing to offer an attractive pay package. Most private hospitals appoint either ayurvedic or homeopathic doctors as residents as they join for a salary of about Rs 40,000, while a doctor with an MBBS degree will not join for a salary of less than Rs 60,000 to Rs 65,000. Manipal Hospitals’ Dr Shekhar Salkar said that after completing their MBBS, most of them concentrate on their further studies, also a considerable number of them leave the state for better careers. It is not just doctors, but hiring nursing staff is also not easy. “Few of our nurses quit to join contract jobs in the government service, recently,” Salkar said. Another doctor attached to a private hospital said, “Whenever a government hires nurses and even if appointments are contractual in nature, nurses serving in private hospitals choose the former not because of pay disparity, but hoping that one day their service will be regularised. Many private hospitals have nursing staff from bordering districts of neighbouring states.” Starting salary for a fresh nurse in the private sector is likely to be Rs 15,000 to 20,000, while in government, she will draw about Rs 30,000 a month, even if the appointment is contractual.