Bhubaneswar: Odisha is currently facing a severe shortage of doctors. From pharmaceutical colleges to primary health centers, doctors are not available as per the required capacity.
A recent notification was issued for the recruitment of 5,248 doctors. However, there is growing concern over whether all these posts will actually be filled. Health experts believe that the reservation system might become a hurdle in the recruitment process.
According to the recruitment advertisement, only 411 posts have been announced for the general category, of which 137 are reserved for women. In comparison, there are 736 posts for SEBC (144 for women), 1,620 for Scheduled Castes (540 women), and 2,481 for Scheduled Tribes (827 women).
However, there is a shortage of eligible doctors in the reserved categories. On the other hand, while there are more than 5,000 candidates from the general category, only 411 posts are available for them. Despite the shortage in reserved categories, more positions have been announced for them.
Even though the government claims to be prioritizing the health department and moving forward to implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme, necessary steps are not being taken to address the shortage of doctors through appropriate recruitment. Currently, around 8,000 doctor positions are vacant in the state.
If recruitment is done according to this latest notification, only around 2,000 to 2,800 doctors will likely be appointed, leaving many positions vacant. It’s not just doctor posts—specialist and professor positions also remain unfilled.
Therefore, experts suggest that the government should re-evaluate its recruitment strategy and allocate posts based on the availability of qualified candidates. Doing so would help reduce systemic problems and ensure proper treatment for patients.