With the COVID-19 pandemic curve showing no signs of flattening, the Odisha government on Tuesday extended the retirement age of doctors from 62 years to 65 years to ensure their availability in the State.
A high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik resolved to enhance the retirement age in the case of Medical Officers of the Odisha Medical and Health Services cadre, as well as that of allopathic insurance medical officers under the Labour and Employees State Insurance Department, from 62 years to 65 years.
The decision was taken a day after the government declared it would pay incentives of ₹1,000 per day to doctors working in COVID-19 hospitals and healthcare centres.
Ganjam’s woes
The State government is a facing shortage of doctors in Ganjam district, home district of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, where the situation appeared to be spiralling out of control. Last week, the government shifted more than 100 doctors from six other districts to manage the situation in Ganjam.
Although there has been no report on doctors’ fatalities in the State, more than 20 doctors have been found to be infected with the virus.
Odisha’s COVID-19 death toll crossed the 100-mark following reports of six more deaths on Tuesday. Of a total of 103 deaths, 59 occurred in Ganjam.
Similarly, the State’s COVID-19 tally jumped to 18,757 after 647 persons tested positive for the coronavirus. After the recovery of 12,909 persons, active cases stood at 5,715. Ganjam reported the highest number of 225 new cases among all districts.
Extreme stress
Since March, doctors have been under extreme stress in view of their continuous duty in hospitals. Apprehensions have been rising in the government sector that there could be a shortage of doctors if the pandemic continues to intensify in the next few months.
Experts see the extension of the retirement age as a desperate attempt to ensure the availability of an adequate number of doctors in the healthcare services system.
The State government has sanctioned ₹20.64 crore from Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for the running of new dedicated COVID-19 hospitals and care centres for the next three months in Khordha and Cuttack districts.
Mr. Patnaik also sanctioned ₹15 crore each for the Cuttack and Khordha districts, where the situation was stated to be under control with an over 70% recovery rate.
Free rice, dal
Meanwhile, the government announced it would provide free rice and dal for five months under the public distribution system for people covered under the State Food Security Scheme. According to a statement, 5 kg rice per person and 1 kg dal per family will be provided for the months from July to November.
