Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said health services during the Congress regime were in a shambles as institutions were opened on political considerations without creating posts and now efforts are on to fill the vacancies.
This was stated by Thakur while replying to a query on shortage of doctors raised by Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and Reena Kashyap in the Vidhan Sabha today. “The Congress created a mess by opening health institutions on political considerations without creating posts.
The institutions existed on paper only with no staff or facilities resulting in the health services being provided to people suffering,” he remarked.
He said there are a total of 345 posts of dental doctors in the state out of which 332 are filled. “A total of 355 dental doctors pass out from various dental colleges in the state every year and 2,819 doctors are registered with the HP Dental Council,” he stated. He added that there is no proposal to lower the retirement age of doctors.
The Chief Minister assured the house that within the next one-and-a-half years, all vacancies will be filled and thrust will be on qualitative strengthening of institutions. He added that walk-in interviews for doctors were being held every week so that no health institution is without a doctor.