West Bengal Increases Maximum Number of Reserved Trainee Doctors

Kolkata, August 7: The West Bengal Health Department announced on Friday that it has increased the maximum number of doctors allowed in the reserved trainee category.

Previously, the limit was set at 477, but the state government’s new notification raises this number to 662.

Doctors in the reserved trainee category are serving government medical officers temporarily released from their regular duties to pursue government-sponsored postgraduate (PG) degree or diploma courses, while still remaining in service. This opportunity is primarily extended to medical officers stationed in rural or remote health centers.

According to a senior official from the health department, this decision aims to enhance the number of specialist doctors within the state-run medical system in West Bengal.

Medical officers from the West Bengal Health Service, West Bengal Public Health Administrative Service, and West Bengal Health Education Service are now included in this ‘reserved trainee’ category.

The West Bengal Doctors Forum welcomed this decision, stating that it will provide more doctors with the opportunity to pursue higher education.

A forum representative noted that previously, when the limit for the ‘reserved trainee’ category was reached, many eligible doctors were denied admission to advanced courses like MD or MS. Now, a greater number of doctors will be able to take leave for higher education, leading to an increase in the number of specialist doctors in West Bengal. This is expected to improve the quality of services in the future. Additionally, the increase in the ‘reserved trainee’ category will eliminate the likelihood of postgraduate seats going unfilled.

Various medical practitioner forums in the state have long been advocating for an increase in the limit for ‘reserved trainee’ doctors. They argued that this increase would help prevent or at least reduce the wastage of postgraduate seats in medical science.

Following the change in government in West Bengal, the new state administration has assured positive steps regarding this matter.