BMC health dept is short-staffed

The outbreak of swine flu and monsoon-related illnesses has revealed the precarious state of the civic health department, the city’s bulwark against disease and health emergencies.

According to the information received through the RTI, out of 1,451 posts both technical and non-technical, nearly 190 have been vacant for over a year. They vary from the position of a peon to pharmacist to sanitary inspector.

There is normally one senior sanitary inspector for each ward, but currently there are only 12 while 12 posts are still vacant. Also, positions for 33 junior sanitary inspectors and eight lab technicians have not been filled, a senior civic official said.

A sanitary inspector visits eateries in his ward and keeps a tab on the hygiene level maintained by them. Laboratory assistants test the samples of contaminated water or those collected from hotels. An insecticide inspector fumigates the area, while the medical officer prescribes medicines to patients to stop the spread of an epidemic.

Jayaraj Thanekar, executive health officer, said, “We have been trying to fill up the vacancies for more than a year. All these posts are from the reserve category.”

The civic body had advertised for the various openings in the health department, but the response was low, Thanekar said. “A few months ago, we had even called for applications to fill up 311 vacancies in civic hospitals, but we received only 40 applications,” he added.