A separate cadre of specialist doctors will be formed to strengthen health services in the state. Also, his retirement age will be kept at 65 years. Health Minister Dr. Dhan Singh Rawat has instructed the departmental officers to prepare a proposal for this and place it before the cabinet. He has given instructions to start the process of filling 883 vacant posts in various districts under the National Health Mission (NHM) and also to fill the vacant posts of promotion. He said that the work of giving appointment to the dependents of the deceased should also be started without delay.
On Tuesday, Health Minister Dr. Dhan Singh Rawat reviewed the Health Department in the Food Safety and Drug Administration Department, Auditorium. He said that under the National Health Mission, the posts of Staff Nurse, Lab Technician, Health Officer, Specialist Doctor, AYUSH Health Officer, Pharmacist, Consultant, Social Worker, Midwifery Educator are lying vacant in various districts. The process of filling them should be started.
He said that keeping in view the paucity of specialist doctors in the state, especially in the hilly districts, a separate cadre should be made for them. A detailed proposal should be brought before the cabinet giving the option of increasing their retirement age to 65 years and voluntary retirement.
It was told in the meeting that a budget of 8.31 crore was approved under NHM in the year 2022-23, out of which only 4.60 crore has been spent. Expressing his displeasure over the slow progress of budget expenditure, the departmental minister said that a concrete action plan should be chalked out to spend 100 percent of the annual budget. It will be reviewed every month.
Departmental officers including Secretary Health Dipendra Chaudhary, Additional Secretary Arunendra Chauhan, Amandeep Kaur, Director General Health Dr. Vinita Shah, Director NHM Dr. Saroj Naithani were present in the meeting.