Odisha: More than 15000 government doctor posts, 60 percent vacant, informs Minister

Bhubaneswar: A severe shortage of doctors continues to strain Odisha’s public healthcare system, with more than half of the sanctioned posts lying vacant across government hospitals, Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling informed the state Assembly on Monday.

Sixty percent of sanctioned doctor posts in Odisha's government hospitals remain vacant, Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling informed the state Assembly on Monday.

Replying to a question from Ganeswar Behera (BJD), the Minister said that out of 15,774 approved doctor posts, 9,503 are currently unfilled.

The state currently has 4,929 regular doctors, while 1,135 doctors have been appointed on a contractual basis. Additionally, there are 19 ad-hoc doctors, 110 doctors appointed under the District Mineral Foundation (DMF), and four under the corpus fund.

Also Read:Odisha faces doctor crunch: 4,880 posts vacant in Govt Hospitals

To address the shortage, the government is establishing new medical colleges to train more doctors. The Health Minister also stated that the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) has been asked to fill 5,248 vacant doctor positions at the earliest.

Also Read:Over 40 percent faculty posts vacant in AIIMS, 20 percent in JIPMER, 17 percent in PGI: Health Minister in Parliament