Bhubaneswar: Government-run hospitals across Odisha are grappling with a severe manpower crisis, with nearly 60% of sanctioned doctor posts lying vacant, Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling informed the Assembly on Monday.
Sharing detailed data, the Minister said Odisha has 15,774 sanctioned posts for doctors, but an alarming 9,503 positions remain unfilled. At present, 6,271 doctors are serving in various government health facilities across the state. Of them, 5,003 are regular doctors, while 1,135 have been engaged on contractual terms. Additionally, 19 doctors are working on an ad-hoc basis, 110 under District Mineral Foundation (DMF) funding, and four under the corpus fund, he added.
To address the acute shortage, the state government has urged the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) to expedite the recruitment process for 5,248 vacant posts, the Minister said.
He further noted that the state’s medical education infrastructure expanded recently with the operationalisation of two new government medical colleges—one at Phulbani and another at Talcher. With these additions, Odisha now has 14 government medical colleges.
