Patiala, December 30- The Punjab government has recently recruited a few hundred doctors with the aim of providing better health services to the people, but there is still a huge shortage of doctors, especially specialist doctors, in government hospitals, the brunt of which is being borne by the people undergoing treatment in the hospitals.
According to an estimate, there is a huge shortage of about 1,250 medical officers and 2,690 specialists in government hospitals and medical centers and the Punjab Civil Medical Service Association had raised this issue before the government and also organized a state-wide strike over this and other demands. As far as medical specialists are concerned, 1,554 posts are vacant against the sanctioned posts. The main reason for specialists staying away from government jobs in Punjab is said to be low remuneration. Apart from this, specialists are also called to do additional duty in post-mortem, medico-legal work and emergency services.
Recently, after the doctors' strike, in the first phase of the long-awaited recruitment of doctors in Punjab, 304 doctors were handed over appointment letters, but till now one-third of these doctors have not joined duty. Due to this, the Health Department has issued an order asking these doctors to join the job by January 3, otherwise their appointment will be canceled. Dr. Akhil Sareen, President of Punjab Civil Medical Service Association, has said that the main demands of the doctors are not being met. Doctors in the state are not getting promotions on time. Similarly, their salaries are also not increasing. 
This is the reason why doctors in the state are not ready to work. The reason for the shortage of doctors and lack of improvement in health facilities is also the 'PEC' stuck between the state government and the central government. After renaming the health centers funded by the central government as 'Aam Aadmi Clinics', the Center had stopped a huge amount of about Rs 1200 crore to be given to the state under the National Health Mission from February 2023. 
But now the state's health services director has written a letter to all district officials asking them to rename 2403 health and wellness centers, 466 primary health centers and 242 urban Aam Aadmi clinics as Ayush Arogya Mandir. This has not happened yet, but last month the Center has released two installments of Rs 123 and 164 crore under the National Health Mission. The state government is now upgrading the sub-centers and primary health centers as per the Center's guidelines.