Lok Sabha Question No. 3175 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-09
Subject: Shortage of Doctors in Rural Areas
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Shri M K Raghavan, Shri Nalin Soren

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3175 TO BE ANSWERED ON 9 th AUGUST, 2024

## SHORTAGE OFDOCTORS IN RURALAREAS

3175: SHRI M K RAGHAVAN: SHRI NALIN SOREN:

Will the Minister of HEALTHANDFAMILYWELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has observed any shortage of doctors in rural areas across the country including Jharkhand and if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise and area-wise;
- (b) whether the State of Kerala has adequate number of doctors as per the stipulation/guidelines by Ministry and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether despite strict rules and actions, large number of fake doctors operate across the country, if so, the details thereof, State/UT/district-wise;
- (d) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to ensure that treatment in private hospitals becomes accessible to common man; and
- (e) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to ensure that life saving devices/medicines are accessible to common man?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE (SMT. ANUPRIYAPATEL)

- (a) & (b) The details of Doctors in the rural area of the country including Jharkhand and Kerala are available at website of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare at the Uniform Resources Locator (URL) as under: https://main.mohfw.gov.in/sites/default/files/RHS%202021-22\_2.pdf .
- (c) Section 34 of the National Medical Commission(NMC) Act, 2019, prohibits a person other than a medical practitioner enrolled in the State/National Register, to practice medicine as a qualified medical practitioner. Any person who contravenes, punishment of imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with a fine which may extend to Rs. 5 Lakh or both is also prescribed under the Act.

As informed by NMC, all State Medical Councils and in-charge of medical education of all States/UTs, have been requested to appoint an officer to file complaints before the Hon'ble Court or any other concerned authority to take appropriate action against quacks as per law.

- (d) Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri - Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) aims to provide health cover of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization to approximately 55 Cr beneficiaries corresponding to 12.34 Crore families constituting the bottom 40% of India's population. States/UTs implementing AB PM-JAY have further expanded the beneficiary base, at their own cost.
- AB PM-JAY provides treatment in the 29,281 hospitals which are empanelled under the scheme for providing healthcare services to the scheme beneficiaries. This includes 12,625 private hospitals.
- (e) To ensure availability of essential drugs and reduce the Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE) of the patients visiting the public health facilities, Government has rolled out the Free Drugs Service Initiative (FDSI) under National Health Mission (NHM).

Under this, financial support is provided to States / UTs for provision of free essential medicines in public health facilities based on the requirements posted by them in their Programme Implementation Plans (PIPs) within their overall resource envelope.

Support under the scheme is available for Procurement of drugs and strengthening /setting up robust systems of procurement, Quality Assurance, Supply chain management and warehousing, Prescription audit, grievance redressal, dissemination of Standard Treatment Guidelines and Establishment of IT enabled platform DVDMS (Drugs & Vaccine Distribution Management System) for monitoring the real status of procurement and availability of essential medicines.

The Ministry has recommended facility wise Essential Medicines List (EML) to be made available at the public healthcare facilities:

| Name of the Facility                                      |   No. of Essential Medicines |
|-----------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------|
| District Hospital (DHs)                                   |                          381 |
| Sub-District Hospital (SDHs)                              |                          318 |
| Community Health Centers (CHCs)                           |                          300 |
| Ayushman Arogya Mandir- Primary Health Centre (AAM- PHCs) |                          172 |
| Sub Health Centre Health & Wellness Centre (AAM- SHCs)    |                          106 |