Tura, May 31: Showing the absolutely deplorable state of the health infrastructure in the state, an RTI by social activist Maxbirth Momin has revealed that there are at least 157 nursing vacancies along with another 18 vacancies for various staff posts in just the Tura Civil Hospital itself.
Through the RTI, the proposed staff requirement of the now 200 bedded Civil Hospital is currently at 271. However the understaffed hospital is only functioning with about 100 staff, about 60% less than what is required.
The TCH is currently being run with only 57 ANM and GNM nurses with the requirement for another 157 to be added.
Besides the shortage of nursing staff, there is a shortage of another 18 staff under various categories. In group A the RTI revealed 7 vacancies with another 9 in group C and 2 from Group D. These vacancies have been there for quite some time, as per the activist.
The RTI further revealed that information has been sent to the various department heads to fill up the positions in Group A and C while the positions under group D would be filled up after being approved by the DSC as and when the same is announced.
The massive gap in numbers has led to questions on how such discrepancies are being allowed in public health.
“These vacancies needed to be filled up with immediate effect. This seems to only be the tip of the iceberg. I am sure there are similar requirements in other government run hospitals as well in Garo Hills if not within the whole state. These too need filling up as the matter is of public health,” stated Maxbirth.