Odisha Shocker: 44 percent Govt Doctor Posts lying vacant
Cuttack: Providing details regarding the number of available doctors in Odisha, the State Government in a recent affidavit has submitted before the High Court that there are 3,523 vacant posts of general duty officers against the sanctioned strength of 5,838.
Similarly, 1,211 posts of specialist medical officers are vacant whereas the total sanctioned strength for the post is 2,708.
So, as per the data provided by the State Government there around 44 per cent of the posts of doctors are lying vacant in Odisha, reports New Indian Express.
The affidavit was filed by the State Government on Wednesday while the High Court bench comprising of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice AK Mohapatra was considering a Public Interest Litigation filed by social activist and lawyer Chittaranjan Mohanty in 2018.
Previously, in an affidavit, the Additional Chief Secretary of Health department Raj Kumar Sharma had informed the HC that there were 1,985 vacant posts of medical officers in the OMHS cadre against a sanctioned strength of 8,729 posts. On the other hand, 6,744 medical officers were in position.
However, during the hearing of the case on November 17, the HC bench had sought for another affidavit and it had clarified that the district wise and specialty wise granular data regarding the sanctioned and working strength of government doctors was not mentioned.
Also Read: Almost 2000 doctor posts vacant, Odisha Govt informs HC
Accordingly, the State filed a fresh affidavit on Wednesday. In that affidavit filed by Special Secretary (Medical Services) Dr. Dinabandhu Panda, the Government clarified that the total strength of medical officers in Odisha Medical Health Services (OMHS) cadre is 8,546 including 5,838 general duty medical officers and 2,708 specialist medical officers.
The Government data revealed that as of December 7, 2021, 2,315 general duty medical officers are present in the OMHS cadre and there is a vacancy of 3,523 doctors in that post. On the other hand, while 1,497 specialist medical officers are present in the OMHS cadre, the number of vacant posts is 1,211, adds New Indian Express.
The data further revealed that Ganjam (226), Mayurbhanj (165), Sundargarh (129) and Balangir (125) have higher number of general duty medical officers. On the other hand, the vacancies in the posts of specialist medical officers are more in Mayurbhanj (117), Sundargarh (90), Koraput (78) and Ganjam (69).
The matter would be heard next on January 8.
