To overcome the acute shortage of doctors in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit regions, the state government is working on a "special package" to offer certain facilities, besides lucrative salary, to the specialists for their posting in such areas.
"Unlike typical procedure of the appointment, we are trying to bring more flexibility in the recruitment of doctors for the sensitive areas. PHFI (Public Health Foundation of India) and UNICEF have been roped in to work with the health department for the purpose," state health services Director Dr Kamalpreet Singh told PTI.
It will be a dedicated package for them which will not only provide a handsome salary, but also ensure other facilities like helping doctors in their further studies, better accommodation, and future appointments.
The package will be provided for a period of 2-3 years, Singh said, adding, drafting of the plan will be started within a month.
Notably, previous attempts by the state government to appoint doctors in the conflict areas failed to serve the purpose following which the step has been taken in this direction.
The recruitment process was initiated around six times in the last two years for doctors in Naxal-hit regions, but only 10-15 per cent vacancies were filled.
The government had also announced Rs 1 lakh plus salary per month package to them, but the efforts went in vain, a senior health department official said.
As per the health department's records, there is an acute shortage of doctors in the worst Naxal-hit Bastar division where only 77 doctors of class I and II category were posted in district hospitals against the sanctioned posts of 202.
Bastar district hospital has 20 doctors against the sanctioned posts of 36, Kanker has 21 against 33, Dantewada has 14 against 33, Kondagaon has 8 against 27, Narayanpur 6 against 24, Bijapur 5 against 21, and Sukma has 3 against 28.
As per the records, in Jagdalpur headquarters, the only government medical college in Bastar region, 163 posts of I and II class doctors out of 270 are lying vacant.
The district hospitals of other tribal-dominated regions which are partially Maoist-hit also lack doctors. The Gariyaband district hospital has 7 doctors against sanctioned posts of 27, Balrampur has 6 against 27, Surajpur 7 against 27, and Jashpur 16 against 27.
The condition is worse in primary health centres and community health centres in remote areas of the Naxal-affected regions, where there are hardly any health care personnel, a health official said.
Even at the package of Rs 1.25 lakh salary (per month), doctors were not available for these regions, Singh said.
Only a few appointments of paediatricians were made in Gariyaband and Kondgaon, he said.
Under the new package, the PHFI will look over the task of arranging doctors either from the state or outside for these areas, he added.
Initially, the focus will only be to get specialists in gynaecology, anaesthesia, pediatrics, and pathology, Singh said.
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