PNS | DEHRADUN
Health minister Dhan Singh Rawat assured the house during the question hour on the third day of the budget session of Vidhan Sabha on Thursday that all the posts of specialist doctors in the State health services will be filled in the next three years. Responding to a question by the Dharchula MLA Harish Dhami, the minister said that 50 per cent of posts of specialist doctors are vacant in the State health services. He said that the government is making an effort to fill these posts by holding walk-in interviews on second and fourth Tuesdays at the health directorate and starting a ‘ you quote we pay’ policy. The Health department has also raised the retirement age of specialist doctors from 60 years to 65 years. The minister claimed that there is no shortage of medical officers in the State. He said that apart from regular doctors the department has appointed 716 bonded medical officers in different health centres located in the mountainous areas of the State.
In response to a question by Salt MLA, Mahesh Jeena, the minister said that the State has 11,375 government primary schools and 9,357 teachers are deployed in them. He said that the student, teacher ratio in government primary schools of the State is 16:1, which is much better than the ideal ratio of 30: 1 mentioned in the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020. The minister informed that there are 5,184 such schools in the State where 20 and less students are enrolled. Similarly there are 1,743 schools where only one teacher is deployed. Rawat said that the State government is planning to open cluster schools by merging schools with less enrolment. The government will provide all facilities, teachers and residential facilities to the students in these schools, he said.
