Bhubaneswar, December 8: Around 60% of doctor positions remain vacant in the State, Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling informed the Assembly on Monday. Out of the 15,774 sanctioned doctor posts, as many as 9,503 posts are vacant in the State, the Minister said.
Currently, only 6,271 doctors, including 1,135 ad hoc doctors are engaged in State-run hospitals.
Around 75% of doctor posts are vacant in Boudh and Deogah districts while 72 per cent posts are vacant in jail hospitals in the State. Similarly, 40% doctor posts are yet to be filled up in medical colleges while 35 per cent Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar recorded 35 per cent vacant doctor posts.
“Out of the sanctioned strength of 15,774 doctors, 9,503 posts are lying vacant. Only 6,271 doctors are currently serving in State-run hospital and medical colleges. This includes 19 doctors appointed on ad-hoc basis, 110 under DMF, four under corpus fund. Only 5003 doctors are regular doctors,” said Mahaling in a written reply in response to a query of BJD MLA Ganeswar Behera.
The Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) has been requested to conduct recruitment for 5,248 posts of junior doctors for the current year.
As per WHO norms, the doctor-to-population ratio should be 1:1,000. At present, the ratio of doctors to population of Odisha stands at 1:1,735.
“The Government is taking steps to fill up the vacant posts up by way of recruitment through OPSC, departmental promotion, contractual engagement,” said Mahaling.
