Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reviewed various measures to augment human resources for effective management of the COVID-19 situation and possible steps discussed include incentivising students and pass-outs of medical and nursing courses to join the pandemic duty, according to a report by news agency PTI.
The final details are likely to be announced on Monday.
"Decisions may include delaying NEET and incentivizing MBBS pass-outs studying for it to join the COVID-19 duty. The decisions may also include utilising services of final-year MBBS and nursing students," a government source added.
The medical personnel doing the COVID-19 duty may be given preference in the government recruitment and financial incentives as well, the source said.
The review meeting took place amid reports of healthcare personnel feeling overwhelmed in some parts of the country due to the surge in the COVID-19 cases, with testing facilities also being under a strain.
In an earlier review meeting with Modi, institutions like the Army had highlighted that they had opened temporary hospitals and their medical staff is also treating civilians wherever they can.
At least 34 doctors have died in India in April so far due to coronavirus infection during the second COVID wave, according to data by the Indian Medical Association.?
The youngest doctor who succumbed to the infectious disease was just 28 years old, a resident doctor from Maharashtra.
Last year, over 730 doctors across India had died due to the contagious disease across the country as per the IMA data. However, the union government maintained that it has not tracked the numbers of deaths of healthcare workers.