BANGALORE: Health Minister U T Khader on Thursday invited the wrath of Assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa over poor staffing at government hospitals.
Thimmappa summoned Khader and asked him to take immediate measures to address the shortage of doctors and paramedical staff across the state.
Speaking to reporters later, Thimmappa said people were being deprived of health care because of the shortage. “In my own Sagar constituency, of the 26 Public Health Centres, only four have doctors,” he said.
A 100-bed hospital in Sagar is manned by just six doctors. The numbers of MMBS and specialist doctors are too few, he rued.
“Khader had promised to fill the vacancies,” he told reporters. Doctors are not interested in government practice because they get fewer perks and smaller pay packages than those teaching at the government medical colleges, he said. Thimmappa said he had advised Khader to remove the disparity. “Khader has agreed. The proposal is likely to come up at the next Cabinet meeting,” the Speaker said.