Since 2016-17, there has been a gradual decrease in allocation made for the state's health and family welfare department in percentage terms, even as the increase in terms of actual allocation has seen a modest rise. While allocation percentage fell from 5.65% in 2016-17 to 5.35% in 2019-20, actual allocation increased from Rs 7,704.81 cr to Rs 10,756 cr.
This trend seems to be reflecting in the state's health infrastructure, particularly in human resources in rural areas.
An analysis by Pathey on vacancies in rural areas at the state's community and primary health centres (CHCs and PHCs) showed that the shortage of vacancies for specialists is between 86% and 97%. The figure looks better when it comes to vacancies for doctors in PHCs, with the shortage at 10%.
Among the specialists there is a shortfall of, the highest is of physicians at CHCs where 97.5% of the posts remain vacant; against a sanctioned strength of 363, only nine have been filled. The shortfall of surgeons, gynaecologists and pediatricians are at around 91%, 87% and 91%, respectively.
Interestingly, as far as pediatricians go, against a required strength of 363 positions at CHCs, the state has sanctioned just 88, of which, only 30 are occupied.
It should be noted that the shortage of specialists and doctors have time and again been questioned by various MLAs in the assembly, with the health minister insisting that they are serious about filling up posts. Vikram Madam, the Congress MLA who raked up the issue yet again on Monday said, "We have been put here to address the problem and not just complain about it. We need to do something about the shortage and need to come up with solutions to ensure that doctors serve rural areas of the state."
Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani also took up the matter of shortage of doctors in rural areas. Congress MLAs also pointed to the fact that even in places where the state had hired consultants, their services were woefully inadequate in terms of both time and number of days they attended.
Health minister Nitin Patel said the state had ensured that an additional 700 medical seats were now available in 12 medical colleges of the state under the EWS quota. "In the coming days, the additional seats will help improve the availability of doctors across the state," said Patel.
Making An Exception
The state government on Monday announced that orphans and widows living in shelter homes and saints in the state can avail medical services under the hugely popular MA Vatsalya Yojana. They can access the benefits of the scheme without showing income proof. The scheme was launched to benefit Below Poverty Line (BPL) families and middle class families of 33 districts in state. It offers insurance of up to Rs 5 lakh to a maximum of five people. However, there is an income ceiling of Rs 4 lakh if one needs to be added as a beneficiary
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