The scarcity of specialist doctors in Uttarakhand is creating more problems in remote and mountainous areas of the State as many hospitals do not have doctors to serve patients. The Districts like Pauri, Tehri, Uttarkashi and Chamoli are more affected by the shortage of doctors.
The health services in the State are severely hampered by 1,482 vacant posts of medical officers. The situation is so bad that there is not even a single physician in Chamoli, Bageshwar, Champawat and Haridwar districts; similarly there are no surgeons and radiologists in Tehri and Rudraprayag districts. Uttarkashi, Tehri, Rudraprayag and Pithoragarh districts are being serviced by only one Physician. There are only 27 serving physicians in the Medical health department of State, while the total requirement in the state is of 129 physicians.
There is only one physician in Pauri which is the home district of Health Minister Surendra Singh Negi and political stalwarts like former Chief Ministers Major General (Rtd.) Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri and Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank” is one of the severely affected areas.
In the District Hospital Male Pauri, there are only four doctors, while in the District Hospital Female there is only one doctor (lady). The Pauri district hospital has a sanctioned strength of 24 doctors and the absence of doctors is creating problems for the residents. Jaipal Singh a resident of Siku said that the situation is so bad in Pauri that people prefer to go to Kotdwara or Dehradun. He said that the situation was much better here when the separate State of Uttarakhand was not created. The situation is much better in Almora, the Chief Minister Harish Rawat’s home turf. In the district Male hospital of Almora 12 specialist doctors are stationed while in the Female Hospital, six doctors are posted against the sanctioned strength of nine. In the Base Hospital Almora, there are 17 doctors against a sanctioned strength of 26. In Ranikhet hospital, 13 doctors are stationed against the 19 posts.