New Delhi/Chandigarh, March 13
Former Union Minister and Member of Parliament from Chandigarh Manish Tewari today raised vital issue of healthcare in Chandigarh in the Lok Sabha. With entire focus on the state of healthcare in the Union Territory of Chandigarh, Tewari vide his unstarred question number 3521, sought clarity from the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare on several pressing matters.
Tewari began by asking about the sanctioned strength of doctors in Chandigarh’s Health Department – cadre-wise and post-wise. “The date on which new posts of doctors were last created in Chandigarh and the number and categories of such posts, along with details of the relevant orders issued”, he asked the Minister.
The Chandigarh MP then pressed for details on vacancies, emphasizing the need for specialty-wise information –Medicine, Surgery, Anesthesia, Radiology, Pediatrics – so that the true picture of shortages could be understood. From there, he turned to the question of new posts, inquiring when the regular recruitment to doctors’ posts was last conducted, along with the number of posts filled and the specialties covered.
Tewari also asked about how many doctors are currently serving in Chandigarh on deputation, broken down State and Union Territory-wise. Finally, he asked whether the deputations are guided by specialty-specific requirements along with the details of the policy or criteria governing such deputation.
Meanwhile, responding to the questions put forward by Tewari, the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav instead of giving Chandigarh-specific figures, emphasized that Public Health and Hospitals are state subjects. He shifted responsibility to the Union Territory administration, saying that the primary duty to create posts and fill vacancies lies with the State/UT.
“The Minister did not answer the specific questions raised – no numbers, no dates, no specialty-wise breakdown, no recruitment details and no deputation figures. This is a classic case of a diplomatic ducking”, said Tewari, adding that the Minister avoided committing to hard data by framing the answer in general policy terms.
While Tewari asserted that his intervention was about transparency and accountability in Chandigarh’s healthcare staffing, the Minister’s reply sidestepped the specifics, offering instead a generic policy narrative. “In parliamentary practice, this is often seen as a way to avoid admitting gaps or shortages publicly. So while the reply may be formally valid, it does not satisfy the intent of the question – it’s more of a diplomatic evasion than a substantive answer.”
Meanwhile, in a moment that cut through the usual diplomatic evasions, Tewari laid bare the startling reality of Chandigarh’s health infrastructure. “I am given to understand by informed people that the break-up of the total number of doctors in Chandigarh stands at 164 Medical Officers (MO), 28 Senior Medical Officers (SMO) and approximately 29 Dental SMOs – totaling around 221 doctors out of which 180 are serving on deputation. Strip those away and the city is left with barely 41 doctors locally or otherwise deployed”, he said. Mincing no words Tewari added, “Perhaps the reason why the Chandigarh Administration and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare did not want to disclose the Health Infrastructure personnel profile of Chandigarh.
