August 08 (Odisha.in) Orissa government has increased the remunerations of doctors particularly those serving in state’s back ward regions including KBK (Kalahandi, Koraput and Bolangir) for a better health care, official said Wednesday.
Health services in the state are already in a sorry state with the expose of fake drugs racket and incidents of female foeticides recently.
There are large scale vacancy in the posts of doctors in the hospitals and the situation in the tribal dominated districts particularly the backward Koraput-Bolangir-Kalahandi (KBK) region is the worst.
Concerned over the vacancy, the state government announced attractive incentive package for filling up of the posts of doctors by hiking their monthly remuneration.
As many as 748 posts of doctors in the Periphery hospitals of which 320 doctors’ posts in the 14 tribal districts are vacant, a top official of the state health department told Odisha.in.
In the impoverished KBK districts comprising of Koraput, Rayagada, Malkangiri, Nawarangpur, Bolangir, Sonepur, Nuapada and Kalahandi and the three other districts – Boudh, Gajapati and Phulbani, as many as 226 posts of doctors are lying vacant for years.
“Non-joining of doctors on transfer in remote areas, coupled with the shortage of doctors, has made the situation critical”, a spokesman of the Health department said.
Even the fresher are not inclined to work on contract in periphery hospitals and 158
fresheres appointed on contract earlier have not so far joined their place of postings ,he said.
Similarly, as far as the doctors/patient ratio is concerned, one doctor attending 8068 patients in the state on an average per annum.
The Standing Committee on Health and Family welfare Department for the year 2007-08 in it’s report to the state assembly, expressed shock over the large scale vacancy of doctors.”
Medical services without doctors in the hospitals is a quack service and dangerous to the life of the people .To meet the present acute shortage of doctors in Periphery all the vacant posts of the total 4220 sanctioned posts need to be filled up during the current year”., the Assembly panel pointed out.
To get rid of the situation, the state government has announced revised incentive package to attract doctors for contractual postings in the 11 of the 14 tribal districts including the districts in KBK region with Rs.6000 hike on the existing 12,000 in the monthly remuneration.
While in the districts other than the eleven, the contractual doctors would be provided with only Rs.2000 hike over the existing 10,000.
Besides, the regular doctors serving in the district headquarters and remote areas in the 11 districts would be entitled additional Rs.4000 and Rs.8000 monthly allowance as doctors on transfer are not willing to work in the tribal districts.
According to a Health Department official, the revised package is aimed at roping the private doctors with PG qualification and retired doctors, who would be designated as consultants on contract. The scheme would be implemented on experimental basis for one year and the extension is depended on the success rate.
Odisha.in