Govt sacked over 50 docs, served notices to 724 found absent: UP Dy CM
The Uttar Pradesh government has dismissed more than 50 doctors and issued notices to over 700 doctors who were absent from their duty stations, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said.
However, he claimed that the shortage of government doctors in Uttar Pradesh will be over very soon as recruitment of specialist doctors has already started.
According to official data, against a sanctioned strength of 19,000, Uttar Pradesh has around 12,000 doctors in government facilities across the state. However, there are complaints that many doctors do not perform duties at the place of deployment.
“More than 50 absent doctors have been dismissed and notices have been issued to 724 government doctors who were continuously missing from their posts,” Pathak, who is also in charge of the Medical Health and Family Welfare Department, told PTI in an interview.
Asked about the shortage of doctors in the state, he said, “For the first time, the Uttar Pradesh government has started recruiting specialist doctors by paying a salary of Rs 5 lakh per month. I am happy to say that a large number of specialist doctors are coming to Uttar Pradesh.”
Asked about the number of specialist doctors recruited, he said that “hundreds of specialist doctors have been recruited” and that the shortage of doctors will be over very soon.
Following Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s claim that the state’s health services are in poor shape, the Deputy Chief Minister said, “The Samajwadi Party has gone off the rails. He (Akhilesh Yadav) does not remember his tenure (as CM). The party is locked up. only on Twitter and social media.”
“Ask him how many times the Minister of Health in his government (2012-2017) visited hospitals to know the conditions there. During the rule of the Samajwadi Party, the Health Ministry had become a den of looters and looters. Now the BJP government got an opportunity to serve the people and we will serve everyone.”
On the issue of shortage of resources in government hospitals, Pathak said, “Today, medicines are available in all hospitals of Uttar Pradesh. The doctors arrive on time. The work to set up medical colleges in all 75 districts of the state is underway while 65 medical colleges are already functioning.”
To a question about the government’s initiative to further improve the state’s healthcare sector, he said, “Our priority is to provide basic health services at around 21,000 sub-centers in the state by setting up health and wellness centers.”
At the Health Wellness Centers, patients are provided with pathology services and vaccination facilities for mothers and children, while treatment of critically ill patients is provided by opening sub-centers for a population of 5,000, Pathak said, adding, “We are achieving great success. in this.”
Pathak also said that around 50,000 people receive treatment every day through the e-Sanjeevani app, which allows patients to talk to specialist doctors online.
On the Centre’s ambitious push to provide Ayushman Bharat card, the Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh said there are around 3.10 crore card holders in the state.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)