In a plea before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Punjab Health Department admitted the acute shortage of doctors at the Community Health Center (CHC) at Sur Singh Wala in Tarn Taran district, saying eight out of 10 sanctioned medical posts remain vacant, hampering essential services to thousands of rural residents.
The counter-affidavit, filed by Dr R S Badha, chief medical officer of CHC Sur Singh Hospital, on November 7, responds to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the People’s Welfare Society, an NGO.
In the petition, argued by Kanwar Bahul Singh, the NGO criticizes the government for failing to provide adequate staffing at the PHC, resulting in emergency services being halted for several years, substandard patient care, and residents forced to seek treatment in distant Amritsar or Tarn Taran. It requires immediate staffing, infrastructure upgrades, and facility installation to restore basic access to health care.
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Dr Badha’s file reveals the grim vacancy figures in a detailed table: Of five posts for general medical officers, only two have been filled, leaving three vacant. All five specialist posts, one each in medicine, surgery, gynecology, paediatrics and anesthesia, remain vacant.
This totals eight empty slots out of 10, underscoring the severe staffing shortages that the affidavit attributes to a broader statewide crisis but acknowledges is being keenly felt in the Tarn Taran region.
“The vacant posts of Medical Officer (General) will be filled soon as the recruitment process of 1,000 medical officers continues,” the document said, admitting that the process is ongoing and incomplete.
The report details the recruitment process that began earlier in 2025, with provisional merit lists from Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (June 24 to July 4), final results being sent to the government on July 18, and appointment letters being issued to 322 candidates on August 29, followed by appointments on September 1.
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An additional 381 offers were extended on 4 September, with priority given to temporary deployments to eighteen flood-affected areas on 9 May. However, for professionals, the affidavit reveals that recruitment for 160 posts “will be commenced by the government only soon after necessary approvals are obtained from the competent authority”, indicating further delay.
At the district level, the filing highlights acute shortages across Punjab, with restructuring and rationalization of sanctioned jobs to reallocate the workforce.
However, it does not provide a specific timeline for the gaps in Sur Singh Wala, merely noting that infrastructure concerns such as new OPD complexes, residential quarters and emergency repairs are “under review” by the Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC), which will provide a separate response.
The NGO’s lawyer, Kanwar Bahul Singh, urged the court to issue an injunction to take “immediate and consistent steps” to avoid a collapse of healthcare in underserved rural areas.
(Tags for translation)Punjab News
