Cuttack, June 28: Orissa High Court has set a 72-day deadline for the state government to fill up all the sanctioned posts of allopathic, homoepathic and ayurvedic doctors lying vacant across the state.
Vacant posts of doctors across the state had come under judicial scrutiny in September last year after a PIL on inadequacy of the state health department to combat cholera outbreak was filed in the high court.
Subsequently, the health and family welfare department additional secretary, Ananda Kumar Mishra, had filed an affidavit in court admitting that 1,085 of the 4,258 sanctioned posts of allopathic doctors in the state were lying vacant.
Out of the 594 sanctioned posts of homoepathic doctors, 151 were lying vacant and of the 520 sanctioned posts of Ayurvedic doctors, 94 were lying vacant. To meet the shortfall, the affidavit said “steps have been taken to recruit Assistant Surgeons on ad hoc basis and 140 medical officers are going to be posted as assistant surgeons on ad hoc basis.
Over and above, contractual appointments have also been given to suitable candidates, including retired doctors”. The PIL had since been pending in high court.
“Disposing of the PIL, the division bench of Chief Justice V. Gopala Gowda and Justice B.N. Mohapatra yesterday directed the state government to fill up all the vacant posts of allopathic, homoepathic and ayurvedic doctors,” petitioner-advocate, Dilip Mohapatra, told The Telegraph today.
“The court, in its order, expected the state government to complete the recruitment process within 12 weeks from the date of receipt of the order,” Mohapatra said.
“It would be just and proper for the state government to see work is done expeditiously in accordance with recruitment rules,” the court said in its order while further directing the state government to provide infrastructure to all public health centres, community health centres and dispensaries across the state.
The petition had sought direction to establish a medical college and hospital in Keonjhar. The state government had assured in its affidavit that steps were already underway to set up a medical college and hospital in the region on PPP mode.
