Kolkata: Engineers, postgraduates, graduates apply for dom jobs at NRS hospital – Times of India

KOLKATA: Over 8,000 have applied for six laboratory assistant (dom) posts to handle corpses in NRS Medical College Hospital’s Forensic Medicine and Toxicology departments, which include nearly 500 postgraduates, 2,200 graduates and another 100 engineers. Hospital sources said 784 among them, including 84 women, have been shortlisted for the written test to be held on August 1. The laboratory assistant posts have a monthly remuneration of Rs 15,000.
Incidentally, the notification published in December last year seeking applications had only asked the candidates to be Class-VIII passout and their age should be between 18 years and 40 years. Among the 784 candidates called for interview, many are in their teens while the oldest candidate is over 44 years. The shortlisting of 84 women candidates for the written test on August 1 is also a marked difference from similar recruitments held earlier. NRS hospital now has four doms, including one woman, which will be increased to 10.
Applications, however, do not require one to submit any testimonials since the basic qualification required is below secondary school level. A senior official said, “There were several applicants with more qualifications than sought for this post. The job vacancies are related to doms. It did come as a surprise to see postgraduates and graduates applying for the post. These applications usually are made by certain group of people who have a family member working as a dom and hence are used to the work nature.”

The official said, “Due process was followed to shortlist those for the written test. The high number of women applicants is also an emerging factor here.” Another official said, “This is part of the state efforts to ramp up hospital facilities. Incidentally, several recruitments were done in the Covid phase but overqualified applicants for the post of doms wasn’t seen in the Covid phase.”
But before Covid period this wasn’t new. In 2017, a similar thing happened when in their desperation to bag a government job, MPhil degree-holders and PhD students applied for a post that requires one to handle and transport dead bodies. Of the 300-plus applications that Malda Medical College had received for the two Group D posts for laboratory attendant whose job profile is to handle dead bodies and organs in post-mortem section of anatomy classes, one out of four applicants were either doing a PhD or already had an MPhil.