At a time when Covid-19 cases are spiralling out of control, opposition Congress and BJP have slammed the Odisha government’s move of sending doctors from tribal districts of the state to the Covid-19 epicentre of Ganjam calling it a huge mismanagement of the health crisis.
A few days ago Odisha had posted 130 doctors from tribal districts such as Malkangiri, Koraput, Kandhamal, Nabarangpur, Bolangir and Kalahandi to Ganjam that has reported over 5,280 Covid-19 cases, around 30 per cent of the total coronavirus cases of Odisha. Ganjam, also the home district of chief minister Naveen Patnaik, has failed to get a grip on the Covid-19 situation with 80-90 per cent of the cases now being reported from all over the district, triggering fears of community transmission.
However, the government’s move of sending doctors from the tribal districts, already reeling under shortage of doctors has come in for sharp criticism. Malkangiri district Congress committee president Govind Patra said the transfer of 10 doctors from the district to Ganjam was unfortunate. “Malkangiri has now 122 active Covid-19 cases and cases are being reported from the urban areas. The situation in Malkangiri is very critical and we have acute shortage of doctors. The government should not have sent doctors from here,” Patra said.
He said the district has 93 doctors as against total sanctioned posts of 197. “Similarly, 20 percent of the total health workers appointed in the district are yet to be appointed. In such a situation, the doctors and health workers are somehow managing the scene. If the government wanted more doctors in Ganjam, it could have requisitioned private doctors,” Patra elaborated.
{{/usCountry}}He said the district has 93 doctors as against total sanctioned posts of 197. “Similarly, 20 percent of the total health workers appointed in the district are yet to be appointed. In such a situation, the doctors and health workers are somehow managing the scene. If the government wanted more doctors in Ganjam, it could have requisitioned private doctors,” Patra elaborated.
{{/usCountry}}Similarly, in Kalahandi where 73 of the sanctioned posts of 107 specialist doctors in government hospitals are lying vacant, former union minister Bhakta Charan Das slammed the government move. “The government simply escalated the Ganjam crisis by getting migrant workers from other states without testing them. Now that the government has mismanaged the health crisis, it is triggering another crisis in backward districts like Kalahandi by getting doctors from there,” said Das.
BJP leader Bhrigu Buxipatra too criticised the government move of sending doctors from tribal districts to Ganjam. “The government never had a strategy in place to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. Now with the rise in cases in Ganjam, it has started taking whimsical decisions. This would lead to major health crisis in districts like Koraput,” he said.
In Nabarangpur district, which has 106 doctors from sanctioned posts of 256, the decision to send 19 doctors from there to Ganjam was criticized by former Congress MP Pradip Majhi. “Tribal dominated districts have several health issues including malaria, Japanese Encephalitis and other diseases. If the government does not withdraw its order, we will be forced to resort to a strike and agitation in the coming days,” said Majhi.