Kozhikode: Government hospitals across the state, including the government medical colleges, are struggling to find enough ex-servicemen for security positions.

The Government Medical College alone has 50 vacant positions for security personnel. The situation is even more dire at the Government Mental Health Centre, which needs 22 security guards but currently only has four. Despite multiple interview drives conducted to fill these security roles across these institutions, they continue to face a shortage of ex-servicemen willing to take them up.

A government order mandates that government and semi-government institutions utilize the services of ex-servicemen provided by the Kerala State Ex-servicemen Development and Rehabilitation Corporation (KEXCON) for their contractual security needs. This policy is primarily aimed at the rehabilitation of ex-servicemen.
Hospital Development Committees approach the District Sainik Welfare Officer to obtain lists of ex-servicemen, conduct interviews, and subsequently issue appointment orders to those selected. However, despite receiving these appointment orders, many individuals do not report for their security duties at the hospitals.
Many of those who initially join these positions later leave their hospital jobs when they find opportunities in other sectors such as banks, railway-affiliated institutions, other public sector undertakings, or the Home Guard, which offer greater stability or better service conditions.

Even the Government Medical College Hospital's repeated requests to KEXCON for ex-servicemen have gone unfulfilled. This creates a difficult dilemma for hospital authorities: on one hand, there's the government's current policy of prioritizing ex-servicemen for these roles, and on the other, the stark reality of being unable to secure the necessary personnel. The shortage of security staff frequently impacts the smooth functioning of even the Government Mental Health Centre, posing significant operational challenges.