Shortage of 16000 Medical Personnel: Karnataka HC issues notice to Centre, State

Acting on the PIL, the bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit issued the notices and adjourned the hearing. The PIL has sought direction to the government for filling up all the vacancies for medical practitioners and to submit a report on the strategies for implementing the budgetary allocation on healthcare and health infrastructure. "The health services in Karnataka are in dire straits, particularly in rural areas. With the alarming rise in epidemics, state health services which are understaffed and ill-equipped to handle the increase in patients will collapse," the PIL states.

Further, the PIL says that there is a "complete lack of coordination and supervision on part of the Respondent No.2 (Department of Health and Family Welfare, Karnataka) while various health strategies are being implemented and, therefore, are far from achieving the desired results." The FICCI report "$1 Trillion Economy Karnataka's Vision" had noted the shortage of primary health centres in 454 rural areas. The report mentioned the shortfall of 723 MBBS doctors, 7,492 nurses, 1,517 lab technicians, 1,512 pharmacists, 1,752 attendants and 3,253 Group D staff. 

This judicial intervention seeks to draw attention to the gravity of the situation and prompt necessary actions from both the state and central authorities to mitigate the shortage of medical professionals, ensuring the continued delivery of quality healthcare services to the populace.