In what reflects a poor state of affairs at Tihar Jail, over a hundred posts of doctors and paramedical staff are lying vacant for the last three years. A total of 101 posts of medical officers and other paramedical staff are lying vacant at South Asia’s largest prison complex, depriving its population of nearly 12,000 prisoners of proper medical aid.
According to the Health Department of Delhi Government, 33 posts of doctors, including Resident Medical Officer, Medical Specialist, Dentist, Junior Specialist, and Child Psychologist, are lying vacant since 2011.
Recently, the Delhi High Court had also asked the Jail authorities and the Government to respond to steps taken to fill vacancies. Pointing out a previous case where an inmate had died due to lack of medical care, the Court in April this year, had said, “There is a huge gap between the medical personnel deployed and the sanctioned post at Tihar Jail.”
According to Delhi Government, 390 posts of cadre staff, 23 medical, 70 paramedical, 43 Jail ministerial posts, seven factory staff and 41 posts of Class-IV staff are lying vacant at Tihar for over three years and severely affecting the overall Jail administration. Apart from this, 68 posts of paramedics, including ECG technician, male nurse, dental mechanic, lab assistant, lab technician, are lying vacant and the Health Department has failed to fill the vacancies.
Senior officials of the Health Department added that in order to fill the vacant posts of medical and paramedical staff, the Health Department is taking all necessary action.
To meet the severe deficit, the Department is also planning to recruit personnel inducted from the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to meet the requirement of medical staff at Tihar Jail.
SCl Das, Secretary of the Health Department said they are in the process of recruiting medical staff. Sunil Gupta, spokesperson, Tihar Jail, said, “The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked different recruiting agencies and departments, including Delhi Subordinate Service Selection Board (DSSB), to fill the vacancies in Tihar Jail. “We are in the process of filling up the posts with the help of various departments,” said Gupta.