State to recruit 7k docs, nurses to fill posts at hosps
Times of India | 8 August 2025
Kolkata: After a gap of three years, the Bengal govt will recruit 621 assistant professors, 1,227 doctors (general duty medical officers) and more than 5,080 nursing staff to fill vacant posts at state medical facilities. Even as West Bengal Health Recruitment Board (WBHRB) started processing the recruitments, many in the medical community expressed apprehension over transparency and the pace. WBHRB chairman Sudipto Roy said, "The entire process is expected to be completed by March 2026.
" Applications for assistant professors' posts span 42 specialities, including cardiac, CTVS, ENT, plastic surgery, chest medicine, urology and infectious diseases.
Apart from the three categories, the health department also plans recruitment of medical technologists.
A state health department official pointed out that the number of seats in MBBS and PG courses had increased in the past few years but the vacant faculty posts at medical colleges increased the teacher : student ratio. Vacancies at medical colleges in districts are higher than that in the city. The National Medical Commission (NMC) had also recently pointed at this faculty gap in medical colleges across India, including in Bengal. "The number of faculty members at medical colleges has not increased, as prescribed under NMC norms. The new medical colleges, too, need enough faculty members. Hopefully, this recruitment drive should bring this gap down," said the principal of a medical college. The state has also started revamping the infrastructure at block and primary health centres, in addition to wellness centres or Suswasthya Kendras (SSK), for the rural population. Health officials said these rural health facilities required enhanced manpower, including doctors and nurses. A sizeable number of GDMOs are likely to be posted there. "In 2022, more than 1,100 medical officers were last appointed. Around 1,200 medical officers from the new recruitment drive will be posted at the rural health facilities," said a health official. While the ideal ratio of nurses and patients is 1:5 in general wards and 1:1 in critical care units, the existing ratio is nowhere close to this ideal mark. "The rise in patient load and the number of health facilities has led to an acute shortage of nurses. Also, in many cases, nurses have to carry out other duties, like that of data entry operators. While this recruitment drive will bring down the shortage, the deficit will remain. We are also apprehensive of the current WBHRB," said Bhaswasti Mukherjee of Nurses Unity.
Another concern is about the posts reserved for OBC and 344 posts to be filled by male nurses. While the OBC issue is pending in court, sources said male nurses were hard to find in Bengal.
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