Ahmedabad: After protests by bonded MBBS doctors of the 2020 batch, the Gujarat govt has withdrawn its restricted choice-filling process for Class-2 medical officer postings, and opened it to all 3,336 eligible candidates.The health department had earlier started choice filling for 1,492 vacant medical officer posts but allowed only a limited number of candidates to take part. This angered many bonded doctors, who said the govt had shut out more than half the eligible pool despite their meeting the criteria.Doctors called the earlier process unfair and opaque. They sent representations to the health minister and senior officials, saying the move could hurt both rural healthcare services and their preparation for NEET-PG, scheduled for Aug 30.After reviewing the matter, the govt cancelled the earlier process. Under the revised decision, the full merit list of 3,336 eligible doctors will now be considered for choice filling.The online choice-filling window has been reopened and will remain active till July 16. Officials stated that the revised system aims to maintain fairness and merit-based allocation while also ensuring that healthcare services, especially in rural areas, are not adversely affected.
