Report by Sujata Panda, Bhubaneswar:  As many as 578 posts of Assistant Surgeons, of the total sanctioned strength of 2612, are lying vacant in the state, said Health and Family Welfare Minister Prasanna Acharya on Friday.

Replying to a question of Amar Prasad Satpathy in the State Assembly, the Minister further pointed out that the government has upgraded 17 posts of assistant surgeons to the posts of specialists in TB and CD in the district headquarters hospitals of the 17 new districts.

Most of backward and tribal dominated districts are plagued by the shortage of medial practitioners.

While Keonjhar district tops the list with 50 vacant posts of assistant surgeons, there are 41 vacant posts in Koraput districts.

The vacancies in other districts are, Mayurbhanj (36), Kandhamal (33), Kalahandi (32), Malkangiri (25), Rayagada (25), Sundargarh (21), Bargarh (20), Nayagarh (18), Nawarangpur (17), Sambalpur (15), Bolangir (14), Deogarh (6), Nuapada (5) and Boudh (1).

In fact, the data provided in the Assembly points out that many coastal districts are also badly affected with doctor crunch.

While there are shortage of 30 assistant surgeons each in Dhenkanal and Kendrapara; Balasore and Bhadrak have 22 Assistant Surgeons less than the sanctioned strength. The vacancies in other coastal districts are, Ganjam (20), Jajpur (20), Jagatsinghpur (16), Angul (18) and Puri (11).

Informing that the cadre restructuring of O M Service is in process, the Minister said that the state government has made financial provisions for establishment of 50 new PHCs this year.