Ahead of a possible third wave of Covid-19, Haryana faces a dearth of medical staff

As the country is gearing up for the possible third wave of the Coronavirus pandemic, Haryana is facing a dearth of doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. The data presented in the recent monsoon session revealed that there are 3596 sanctioned posts of the medical officers and out of these 989 posts are lying vacant— which constitutes more than one-fourth of the total.

Besides, the health department is facing a shortage of Senior Medical Officers (SMO), Deputy Civil Surgeons along with DMMs, and out of such total of 590 posts, 209 are lying vacant, which is more than 30 percent of the whole. Staff nurses are also an integral part of health services and the situation regarding these posts is not much different from whatever is mentioned above.

It is pertinent to mention that out of the total 4403 posts for nurses, as many as 2260 posts are lying vacant. This means, more than 50 percent of the total posts are lying vacant, which is a matter of serious concern. Besides, during the second wave, students who had not completed their medical degrees, were also asked to serve in the government hospitals in Haryana.

In wake of the shortage of medical personnel in the state, the Haryana government had made it mandatory for the MBBS and MD students to serve the state hospitals for a specific period before opting for a private health institution and moving somewhere else. If we take a look at the posts of Multi Purpose Health Workers (MPHW), then the scenario remains almost the same, as out of the total 2732 posts, 466 are lying vacant. While there are 632 sanctioned posts of Master In Public Health Sciences (MPHS), 86 respective posts lie unfilled.