Due to the shortage of doctors in the mountainous district of Uttarakhand, the primary Health Centre, Community health centre, hospitals and district hospitals are in bad condition which is causing severe inconvenience to the locals and public who belongs to remote area seeking medical treatment.
Pauri is the regional headquarter of Garhwal, but the majority of the sanctioned post of doctors and related staff are lying vacant here.
The acute shortage of doctors had turned the Pauri district hospital into referral hospital and poor people are moveing to Dehradun and other places for better medical facility which has caused big financial burden to them.
The general opinion is that the State Government has no specific transfer policy and Government doesn’t want to frame any further to ensure that doctors work in remote areas of the State.
There is almost no shortage of doctors in plains districts including Dehradun, Haridwar and Udhamsinghnagar. Only very few doctors who are dedicated to their service ready to work in the remote areas. Allegation is that the Government has turned the transfer of docters as business.
Pauri Chief medical Officer Dr AK Singh said that out of the 122 sanctioned post of doctors in the PHC and hospitals, only 21 doctors are working and remaining posts are lying vacant, while in Pauri District hospital only 06 doctors out of 22 are working, similarly seven out of the 13 doctors in Srinagar joint Hospital are working.
In the Joint hospital Kotdwar 16 out of 17 doctors are working. He said that 09 contractual doctors are giving their service in the district. Out of these nine contractual, 03 are female doctors and posted in Pattisain,Thallisain and Yamkeshwar.
The condition of Pauri District hospital (both men and women) and the Joint hospital at Srinagar is bad but in Kotdwar, the home town of the Health Minister, the condition of Joint Hospital Kotdwar is well satisfactory.
In Kotdwar only one post of doctor lying vacant out of the sanctioned posts. Surprisingly two pathologist are working in Kotdwar, while the district hospital at Pauri has been facing problems caused by absence of pathologist.
Chief Medical Superintendent District Hospital Pauri Dr Rai said that six out of 22 doctors are working in the hospital. One post each of radiologist, pathologist, physician, ENT specialist, cardiologist, eye surgeon, dermatologist and two post of EMO are Vacant. The established CT scan machine has been gathering dust due to absence of radiologist and technician.