Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao
Bengaluru: In a sweeping move aimed at curbing corruption and boosting transparency, the Karnataka health department has transferred 5,676 officers and staff members across the state in accordance with the Karnataka Civil Services.
According to a report by Deccan Herald, the department adopted a data-driven approach to the transfer process by categorising districts into critical and non-critical zones. Medical officers were evaluated on a points-based system, awarding two marks for each year of rural service and 1.5 marks for urban postings. Based on these scores, doctors were ranked. The ranks determined the priority order for them to choose the place of their liking.
The non-critical zones are more in number than the critical zones. After the first set of doctors chose non-critical zones and the number of critical and non-critical zones reached parity, the remaining doctors were required to opt for positions in critical zones.
A grievance redressal committee has also been constituted to handle objections or appeals related to postings.
There will be annual transfers in the same way as it helps clean up the system. My office was filled with people with recommendation letters from politicians and other influential persons, because people felt that was how the system works.
To manage the scale of the operation, eight teams were deployed in each district to oversee the counselling process, which was held at district health offices. Remote staff were able to participate online, eliminating the need to travel to Bengaluru. The process was supported by specialised software displaying real-time vacancy data, with senior officials joining virtually via video conferencing.
Rao acknowledged the challenges involved noting that the department had to consider the personal impact on families.We had a lot of humanitarian challenges. We had to take into consideration how transfers affect officials families he said.
Due to some vacancies remaining unfilled in critical zones a second round of counselling was conducted
