Nagaland medical dept overstaffed yet deficient, implies top official

January 26, 2023 37 Views No Comment

Morung Express News
Kohima | January 26

The Medical department is the third highest staffed department in the state, with nearly 10,000 employees, after the Home department and Education department.

The Commissioner & Secretary, Health & Family Welfare (H&FW) Y Kikheto Sema provided the information during a coordination meeting with the department’s officers on January 25 at its directorate.

Sema, who recently took over as Commissioner & Secretary, also stated that there is an excess of third and fourth-grade employees, but a shortage of technical employees in the department.

He pointed out that there are over 772 health centres as against 1380 recognised villages, and highlighted that there is a health or sub-centre in every two villages, making it difficult to manage. He questioned the need for these excess centres, and wondered who would provide the infrastructure or if they were created to employ fourth-grade staff.

Expressing grave concerns about the lack of technical experts and excess health centres, Sema suggested the idea of bringing NGOs, churches, and like-minded individuals to invest in health centres on the principle of ‘communitisation of public institutions.’
He also suggested converting posts for technical positions as fourth-grade employees retire. Sema urged the department officials to work towards the state’s vision of providing affordable and accessible healthcare to all citizens.”

On Medical College
“Reiterating the urgency to complete the medical college as soon as possible,” Sema said, “Together we need to build a medical college.”

Following several meetings and inspections, he also informed that the administrative building should be completed by May 2023, while the hostels are expected to be ready by April, and the sports complex is almost complete.

Some quarters are already finished while others, such as the library, are expected to be completed by June.

Sema further informed that during the National Medical Council (NMC) visits on January 10, an assurance was given to complete the college before the academic session starts.

To address the workforce shortage, screening has been done and interviews for recruitment will be conducted soon, he said.
He also emphasised the need to strengthen network connectivity in remote areas, and suggested officials to request external aid for additional assistance to improve the healthcare delivery system in the state.”