She said this was one of the ways to enable them to enjoy all the perks given to civil servants, such as housing loans, while reducing the government’s pension burden which was growing annually.

“We are aware of the burden facing the government with the pension scheme. It amounted to RM3.1 billion in 2011 and increased to RM29.1 billion in 2021.

“So, one way out is to absorb them (contract doctors) on a permanent basis, but without a pension, yet they enjoy the same benefits as other permanent workers, like being eligible for housing loan,” Bernama reported her as saying in the Dewan Negara today.

If implemented, these doctors will be placed under the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme.

She said the proposal was being discussed with the public services department and the finance ministry.

She was responding to a supplementary question from Jefridin Atan who wanted to know whether the health ministry was considering employing more contract doctors to overcome the workload of health workers.

On another matter, Zaliha said there was overcrowding in hospitals due to an increase in cases of non-communicable diseases.

“To reduce overcrowding in hospitals, we have implemented a pilot project led by the special task force on agency reform which was established under the supervision of the chief secretary to the government.

“My ministry is also intensifying digitalisation efforts to reduce the workload of our staff, in addition to implementing scheduling practices that can help ensure they get sufficient rest time between shifts and letting them go on leave,” she said.