Incentives to Work in Rural Areas

Incentives to Work in Rural Areas

The Government of India has taken various measures to provide monetary and non monetary incentives to attract skilled medical and para medical professionals to work in rural areas. These include: 

1. Monetary incentives under NRHM for both regular, adhoc and contractual staff posted in hard to reach and difficult areas. 

2. The Central Government in consultation with the Medical Council of India, has made the following amendments to its PG Medical Education Regulations to encourage doctors to serve in rural areas : 

i. 50 % reservation in PG Diploma courses for Medical Officers in the Government service who served for at least three consecutive years in remote and difficult areas ; 

ii. Incentive at rate of 10 % of the marks obtained for each year in service in remote or difficult areas upto the maximum of 30 % of the marks obtained in the entrance test for admissions in PG Medical course. 

3. Improved accommodation for healthcare personnel has been provided through NRHM at many rural facilities. Also health facilities have been upgraded and better equipped. 

This information was given by Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad in reply to a question on shortage of medical and paramedical staff in the rural areas in Rajya Sabha today. 

Augmentation of human resource is one of the thrust areas under National Rural Health Mission [NRHM]. 2914 Specialists, 8722 Doctors, 10995 AYUSH Doctors, 33411 Staff Nurses, 69662 ANMs, 14529 Para Medics and 3894 AYUSH Para Medics have been engaged on contractual basis to increase the availability in the rural areas. Various reasons attributed for shortage include non availability of requisite number of doctors and paramedics, shortage of medical colleges and training institutes and unwillingness on the part of doctors to work in rural areas. 

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Performance-based incentive for Central Govt staff from next Financial Year

Employees belonging to 62 of central government departments could may receive performance-based incentive, over and above their existing salaries, from as early as the next financial year. The incentive will be based on the department’s scorecard in meeting yearly targets committed by their respective secretaries and ministers as part of the results-framework documents (RFD) system.

The committee of secretaries looking into performance-based incentive for government employees is said to have already zeroed in on a formula that offers a secretary-level officer an incentive up to 40% of the basic salary, provided his department has met 100% RFD targets. A scorecard of 70% and less in meeting RFD targets would however attract zero incentive. However, no penalty will be imposed on the non-performing officers.

The secretaries’ panel, headed by the Cabinet secretary, has already completed three crucial meetings and is looking to finalise its recommendations in time to enable performance-linked salaries in the coming financial year.For a secretary-level officer, the incentive is proposed to be 15% of cost savings (budgeted expenditure minus actual expenditure) by the department multiplied by its composite score less 70, divided by 30.

The incentive will be higher with each passing year. In other words, secretary of a department that meets 100% RFD targets for a year would get 20% performance-based incentive in the first three years, 30% in the next three years and 40% between the sixth and ninth year. A 70% scorecard would however attract no incentive.

For a joint secretary, the incentive will be sum of 30% of departmental composite score and 70% of divisional composite score. Since the incentive will be paid from cost savings of the department resulting from improved performance, there will be no extra burden on the exchequer. The government, incidentally, is not in favour of penalising the non-performing officers.

The reasoning being that not getting any incentive, or absence of recognition, would be punishment enough for the under-performers. With the committee of secretaries also planning to lay down the condition that performance-linked incentive will accrue to only those departments that have submitted RFDs for two consecutive years, the key five departments of PMO , home, finance, defence, external affairs who are still not covered by the RFD system will not qualify for the incentive.

source:Economic Times

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