Lok Sabha Question No. 4221 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-20
Subject: Shortage of Doctors and Healthcare Professionals in Punjab
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Charanjit Singh Channi

## GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRY OFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4221 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.12.2024

## SHORTAGE OF DOCTORS AND HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN PUNJAB

## 4221. SHRI CHARANJIT SINGH CHANNI:

Will the Minister of HEALTHANDFAMILYWELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware of the significant shortage of doctors and healthcare professionals in the State of Punjab, as highlighted in recent reports and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government proposes to take measures to address the issue including incentivizing medical education and ensuring equitable distribution of healthcare workers across the State and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has any plan to introduce special recruitment drives or training programmes to mitigate the shortage of doctors in Punjab; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE (SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV)

- (a): The details of doctors and healthcare professionals in the State of Punjab are available at website of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare at the Uniform Resources Locator (URL) as under:

https://mohfw.gov.in/sites/default/files/Health%20Dynamics%20of%20India%20%28Infrastr ucture%20%26%20Human%20Resources%29%202022-23\_RE%20%281%29.pdf

(b) to (d): Government of India has allocated the following funds to incentivize medical education and ensuring its equitable distribution for developing public healthcare infrastructure and services to Punjab:

-  The Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) aims at correcting regional imbalances in the availability of affordable tertiary healthcare services and to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country. Under the Scheme approvals has been accorded for Establishment of One new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Bhatinda and upgradation of two Government Medical Colleges/ Institutions (GMCIs) at Amritsar and Patiala for the State of Punjab.
-  Under Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), ' Establishment of new medical colleges attached with existing district/referral hospitals ', with preference to underserved areas and aspirational districts, where there is no existing Government or private medical college. 03 Medical Colleges were approved in the State of Punjab at Districts SAS Nagar, Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur.

Under the National Health Mission, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare provides technical and financial support to the States/UTs including State of Punjab to strengthen the public healthcare system including recruitment of health care professionals and their training in rural areas based on the proposals received in the form of Programme Implementation Plans (PIPs) under National Health Mission. Government of India provides approval for the proposal in the form of Record of Proceedings (RoPs) as per norms & available resources. The details are available in public domain at:

https://nhm.gov.in/index1.php?lang=1&level=1&sublinkid=1377&lid=744

Under NHM, following types of incentives and honorarium are provided for encouraging doctors to practice in rural and remote areas of the country:

-  Hard area allowance to specialist doctors for serving in rural and remote areas and for their residential quarters so that they find it attractive to serve in public health facilities in such areas.
-  Honorarium to Gynecologists/ Emergency Obstetric Care (EmoC) trained, Pediatricians & Anesthetist/ Life Saving Anaesthesia Skills (LSAS) trained doctors is also provided to increase availability of specialists for conducting Cesarean Sections in rural & remote area.
-  Incentives like special incentives for doctors, incentive for Auxiliary Nurse and Midwife (ANM) for ensuring timely Antenatal Checkup (ANC) checkup and recording, incentives for conducting Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health activities.
-  States are also allowed to offer negotiable salary to attract specialist including flexibility in strategies such as ' You Quote We Pay ' .
-  Non-Monetary incentives such as preferential admission in post graduate courses for staff serving in difficult areas and improving accommodation arrangement in rural areas have also been introduced under NHM.
-  Multi-skilling of doctors is supported under NHM to overcome the shortage of specialists. Skill upgradation of existing HR is another major strategy under NRHM for achieving improvement in health outcomes.

Further, as informed by the State of Punjab, in the past two years, there has been recruitment for 400 posts of Medical Officers, 523 posts of House Surgeons and 754 posts of Multipurpose Health Worker (Female). Additionally, 1390 new posts of Medical Officers have been created by the State Government.

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