Opposition Congress and BJP on Tuesday attacked the State Government over what they said the deteriorating healthcare system in the State.
In the State Assembly, they slammed the Government for the huge number of vacancies in the posts of the health sector and lack of machineries and equipments in hospitals.
Participating in an Adjournment Motion, Congress MLA CS Raazen Ekka said there are many vacancies in the Health Department. Around 40 per cent of doctor posts are lying vacant. There is a shortage of 7,000 health workers, 10,000 staff nurses and 6,000 pharmacists in Community Health Centres (CHCs) and Primary Health Centres (PHCs), he pointed out.
He said 12 professor posts, 30 associate professor posts are lying vacant in VIMSAR, the major healthcare centre of western Odisha.
The total number of beds in VIMSAR is 1,018. Accordingly, there should be 5% to 8% ICUs, but there are 20 ICUs. A medical college was established in Sundargarh and the first batch of students was enrolled, but the 500-bed hospital is not yet fully functional, he said.
BJP MLA Mukesh Mahaling said that after Badamba and Narsinghpur, now Loisingha has become a hotspot of kidney-related diseases. The Government has facilitated free dialysis for the benefit of people, but there are no dialysis facilities everywhere.
While the Government is claiming that it has reduced the child mortality rate, 92,000 children under the age of five have died between 2016-17 and 2021-22, he said.
Alleging that there is a fraud racket going on in the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, Mahaling questioned why the Ayushman Bharat Yojana is not implemented in the State.
Replying to the motion, Health Minister Niranjan Pujari said the Government is giving importance to quality health services. About 30 per cent of the health budget is being spent on medicines. About 96.5 lakh families have benefited under the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana. Currently, 8.25 lakh beneficiaries are undergoing treatment under the scheme. A total of Rs 1,443.78 crore has been spent on medical treatment.
Pujari further said the Ama Hospital scheme has been launched for the improvement of Government hospitals; and within nine months, 147 Community Health Centres would be transformed under the 5T initiative.
Currently, there are 2,125 medical seats in the State, but it would be increased to 2,500 next year. This year, a process has started to fill up 274 Assistant Professor posts, the Minister said.