On Tuesday, the Jharkhand government approved the one-time extension of services of government doctors who are getting retired, by up to 10 months. The decision was taken due to a shortage of medical professionals in the state to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The approval was given to the proposal submitted by the Department of Health, Medical Education, and Family Welfare in the state Cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

The state is currently witnessing a shortage of doctors and has only 1,597 doctors in the non-teaching cadre, of the approved strength of 2,316. Just 285 doctors are available in the teaching category of an approved strength of 591.

The chief minister approved the proposal of extension of the services of the state cadre health services doctors who were retiring from May to September 2021, to March next year. From the total strength of the state health services doctors, 44 doctors in the non-teaching and 15 doctors in the teaching categories were due to retire next year.

The services of those retiring between October 2021 and March 2022, are extended by six months from the date of their retirement. 

The state cabinet approved another proposal declaring mucormycosis as an epidemic due to the increasing number of cases. Overall, 79 cases were confirmed and 53 suspected cases were reported from 18 of the 24 districts. Twenty six people had died due to the infection to date. 

One more decision of the Cabinet is related to the establishment of a Special Auxiliary Police of retired soldiers/JCOs/officers of the Indian Army. Approval was given to relax the prescribed qualifications for appointing recommended players under the Jharkhand Players (Direct Appointment) Rules, 2014.

Source: The Times of India