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Updated September 17th, 2021 at 22:17 IST

AAP slams Punjab's 'completely wiped out' rural health system; '1000 of 4400 posts vacant'

The Aam Aadmi Party said that just like previous dispensations, the ruling Congress government has "completely wiped out" the public health system in the state.

Reported by: Gargi Rohatgi
Punjab
Image: ANI | Image:self
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The Punjab unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday attacked the state government and said that just like previous dispensations, the ruling Congress government has "completely wiped out" the public health system in the state. While stating that vacancies have piled up in the health sector over the past one year, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Punjab assembly Harpal Singh Cheema said that the brunt of this problem is being faced by the rural populace. 

While addressing a press conference on Friday, Harpal Singh Cheema said that the government health services in rural and remote areas have come to a complete standstill. Claiming that Punjab had the best health service in the country till 1980, he said, "Unfortunately, Punjab is lagging behind even Bihar in many aspects nowadays.

AAP on rural health facilities in Punjab

Remarking that Congress, Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh, Badals and the BJP are responsible for the plight of the residents, Cheema said that they have deliberately destroyed government health services to promote private health mafia. He said that nearly, 1,000 of the 4,400 sanctioned posts of doctors in government hospitals in the state are vacant. He further said that there were hardly any vacancies in 1980 for the same number of posts.

The AAP leader also criticised the previous SAD-BJP government and further said that the latter had abolished 516 posts of specialist doctors. He said that the decision of the Captain Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in 2006 to hand over 1,186 dispensaries to the department of rural development and panchayat has cost the rural population of Punjab dearly.

Cheema said, "The SAD-BJP government during its rule from 2007 to 2017 also did not hand back the rural dispensaries to the health department. Cheema said the decision has led to a spike in corruption."

“There are 3,000 sanctioned posts of indoor nurses in about 125 government hospitals across Punjab, out of which 1,000 are vacant; while 1,600 out of 3,000 posts of pharmacists are vacant and out of total 2,800 posts of male workers, about 2,150 posts are vacant. The same situation is true for sanitation and other healthcare staff,” Cheema added.

Asserting that there was one rural dispensary for every 10,000 people in 1980, he said that ''today the ratio has breached 15,000.'' He added that there were only 44 tehsil-level hospitals in the state and those, too, were facing an acute shortage of medicines and manpower. Cheema also alleged that the government was financially exploiting about 25,000 Asha workers by providing them with a salary of only Rs 10,605 per month.

Image: ANI

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Published September 17th, 2021 at 22:17 IST

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