• Allegations levelled against favouring KDU over Govt./foreign grads 

It is alleged that certain officials of the Ministry of Health are deliberately delaying the granting of internship appointments to 400 medical graduates who have passed the final year examination of Government medical faculties for the second time in June, 2022, and those who have obtained medical degrees from foreign universities.

Sources told The Daily Morning that the Ministry should by now grant internship appointments to 400 medical graduates, including 222 medical graduates (repeated) who have passed the final year examination in June, 2022, and 178 medical graduates from foreign universities. According to sources, these graduates' lists held by the Ministry should be forwarded to the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) before the last week of May for the relevant process, but that it has not been done thus far.

In addition to those 400 graduates, sources also said that there are 1,080 graduates of Government medical faculties who have passed the final year examination, and who will be granted internship appointments in November, 2023. The sources further said that there are another 400 students of the Faculty of Medicine of the Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) who are currently appearing for the final examinations, and that their results are to be released by the end of this month (June). The sources stated that according to the general practice, internship appointments are given to the students of the KDU's Medical Faculty after the appointments are given to the graduates of the Government medical faculties. Accordingly, the said 400 undergraduates of the KDU should be given internship appointments only after granting internship appointments to 1,080 Government medical graduates in November, 2023. When the internship appointments are granted, sources said that Government medical graduates get appointments in leading hospitals such as the National Hospitals of Sri Lanka (NHSL) in Colombo and Kandy, and Teaching Hospitals around the country, while the graduates of foreign universities and the KDU get appointments in peripheral hospitals. If the internships appointments are to be granted in the general manner, the KDU graduates should be placed on the relevant list after 1,080th Government medical graduate.

However, sources claimed that certain officials of the Ministry are currently attempting to provide internship appointments to KDU medical graduates, among whom the children of politicians and various other powerful people are, and to the 400 medical graduates who are supposed to receive internship appointments in May, at the end of this month. The necessary arrangements for giving appointments to the 400 graduates (repeated batch and foreign graduates) are being delayed until the results of the KDU graduates are released, claimed sources.

Also, if it is possible to grant internship appointments to 800 graduates at once, the sources said that the Ministry should have given the relevant appointments to Government medical graduates. The sources added that it is unfair to take decisions targeting certain individuals, while the Government continues to point out the difficulties faced in making recruitments to the public service.

Health Minister, Keheliya Rambukwella and Health Ministry Secretary Janaka Sri Chandraguptha were not available for comment.