By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: As many as 358 Allopathic Medical Officers, 116 Homoeopathic Medical Officers and 36 Homoeopathic Lecturers on Friday joined the State Government in the Health & Family Welfare Department. An orientation programme was organised for the new recruits at convention centre in the Lok Seva Bhawan.
Congratulating the new recruits on virtual platform, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik called upon them to make their profession a mission for Sustha Odisha – Sukhi Odisha.
He hoped that appointment of such a large number of Medical Officers will make the healthcare system more robust and effective. It will also contribute in improving the satisfaction of the people who visit the Government facilities, he added.
Stating that Sustha Odisha, Sukhi Odisha” is our mission and ‘every life is important’, has been the guiding principle of his government, he added that our objective is to provide quality and affordable health care to all the 4.5 crore people of Odisha.He further said that our Government is committed to provide universal access to quality healthcare services and bring down the out-of-pocket expenses of the people.
Focussing on state’s budgetary allocation for health sector, he said that the size of the budget of the Health Department is increasing over the years. The budget provision during the financial year, 2019-20 was more than Rupees six thousand eight hundred crore which has been increased to more than twelve thousand crore rupees in the year 2022-23. This is more than six percent of the State Plan, he emphasised. The budget size has in fact doubled in last three years.
Bringing attention to the 5T initiative of the government, he said that Transparency, Technology, Teamwork, Time and Transformation are the fundamental principles of our governance model. People are the soul of democracy and every public servant is mandated to serve them with dignity, he underscored.
Minister Shri Naba Das described doctors’ job as a noble profession. He highlighted state’s success in Covid management and said that it has brought international reputation for the state. He asked the doctors to work with commitment and dedication.
Chief Secretary Shri Suresh Chandra Mohapatra highlighted the state’s achievement in health sector. He said people in rural areas have high expectations from doctors. So they should work to live up to their expectations.
Secretary to CM (5T) Shri VK Pandian interacted with the new doctors and deliberated on the CM’s guiding principle of governance, that is ‘ Every life precious ‘. He said CM is working towards this from day one. Be it food security, be it disaster management, Odisha has showed the world how it’s working to save the life of its people. He called upon the doctors to follow same principle for saving the life of every person who comes to them for treatment. He also asked them to follow absolute transparency while serving people.
Principal Secretary Health Shri Nikunja Dhal in his welcome address highlighted the steps taken for improvement of health infrastructure in the state. Director Ayush offered the vote of thanks.
