Minister directs immediate recruitment of 8,000 staff for better public health services in A.P.

Medical Minister Satya Kumar Yadav prioritizes immediate recruitment of 7,000-8,000 staff to improve public health services.

Medical and Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav has asked the officials to prepare an action plan for immediate recruitment of 7,000 to 8,000 staff to ensure better public services, and promised to prioritise the process based on urgent needs.

At  a review meeting on the management of various public health programmes on Friday, the Minister pointed out that the honeymoon period for the new government was over and it is time to start reviewing the performance and outcomes of medical staff. He stressed that in a democracy, governments, ministers, and staff must be accountable to the public. The attitude of “just telling the story” among the medical staff must change, and they needed to improve the quality of services under various schemes with accountability, he said.

Mr. Satya Kumar Yadav said that the Medical and Health Department had a total of 1,01,125 sanctioned posts, of which 26,263 were currently vacant, representing a shortage of 25.97%. The previous government’s claims of “zero vacancies” in the department were misleading. The shortage of doctors stood at 21.41%, and that of paramedical and support staff was 26.78%. Staff shortage was particularly high in government hospitals, with a shortfall of 37.04% in teaching hospitals, 28.96% in primary care hospitals, 14.51% in regional and district hospitals, and 63.40% in Ayurveda, Homeopathy, and Unani hospitals, he said, and expressed concern about the previous government’s neglect of these traditional medicine systems.

Referring to Special Chief Secretary for Health M.T. Krishna Babu’s report, he said that some posts previously vacant had been cancelled, and new posts had been created based on contemporary needs. Several other posts needed to be filled through promotions. The issue of staff shortages be reviewed comprehensively and prioritised for recruitment of 7,000 to 8,000 posts, he added.