Odisha, which is experiencing an acute shortage of doctors, plans to fill 5,000 vacancies soon, chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced on Friday.
Attending the 9th National Summit on Good and Replicable Practices and Innovations in India’s Public Healthcare System on Friday, Majhi also announced that eight nursing colleges would be opened to strengthen the healthcare workforce. “Besides the nursing colleges, two new medical colleges will be opened shortly in Phulbani and Angul during the 2025-26 academic year. Four more dental colleges will also be opened soon as a part of the state’s initiatives for enhancing health education,” Majhi said.
To build the health infrastructure, the state government would convert its 7,358 urban and rural primary health centres and sub-centres into Ayushman Arogya Mandirs. “The new buildings for 1,338 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs will be constructed in the next financial year,” Majhi said.
“Our vision for Sustha Odisha is inspired by the timeless Sanskrit verse Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah, Sarve Bhadrani Pashyantu — may all be happy, may all be free from illness,” the chief minister added.
The BJP government, which agreed to implement the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, maintained that a significant milestone in Odisha’s healthcare journey would be the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana alongside the Gopabandhu Jana Arogya Yojana.
“It will enable citizens to access affordable and quality healthcare services at 29,000 empanelled government and private hospitals nationwide. This initiative will benefit all citizens, including migrant workers, and strengthen the state’s health and economic ecosystem by linking Odisha to the national healthcare system,” said Majhi.
Union health minister J.P. Nadda lauded Odisha’s impressive growth in the
health sector.
Inaugurating the summit in Puri, Nadda said: “There was a time when we used to hear a lot that Odisha lacked in several aspects. But things have improved. The maternal and infant mortality rate in the state has come down.”
Stating how the new health policy introduced in 2017 was a game changer, Nadda said that the one lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs were going to play a crucial role in the health sector, conducting universal screening for diabetes, hypertension, oral cancer, breast cancer and cervical cancer.
