Ayurveda practitioners to be appointed as community health officers
Kolkata: State Ayush department has decided to appoint Ayurveda practitioners as community health officers at the health and wellness centres across the state.
According to sources in the Ayush department, the process of recruiting Ayurveda practitioner as the CHO at various health and wellness centres, has been initiated by the state government. The government has already given its approval to induct the Ayurveda practitioners as the CHOs. It may be mentioned here that the process of recruiting the CHO at various community health centre began in 2017.
In the following year, around 510 nursing staffers were recruited as CHOs at various community health centers in the state. But, Ayurveda practitioners were not brought under this ambit. Many Ayurveda practitioners and their organisations articulated their demands of being recruited as the CHOs and also urged the government in this regard.
It was learnt that besides nursing professionals, the Ayurveda practitioners will also be recruited as the CHOs at health and wellness centres.
It may also be mentioned here that all the community health centres in the districts have already been upgraded to health and wellness centre for providing better health care facilities to the patients.
More than 10,300 primary health centres are in the process of getting upgraded to health and wellness centers. State health department has already started training progremmes for the nursing professional before they are inducted as the CHO at these centers.
Where there is an acute shortage of doctors at various health and wellness centres in the rural areas, these trained CHOs are supposed to provide primary health care. The Bengal government already started six months bridge course for nurses under the National Health Mission.
Around 1920 posts of CHOs have been created in the state for the financial year 2019-20.
It is up to the state government to decide in what ratio they would induct the nursing personnel and the ayurveda practitioners. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee laid enormous emphasis on the development of the Ayurveda infrastructure in the state.
The Union Health Ministry earlier urged all the state governments to recruit both Ayurveda practitioners and nurses as CHOs at all the health and wellness centers after they complete the bridge course.
The steps have been taken after the Centre found a shortage of doctors at various health centres in the rural areas.
The Bengal chapter of National Ayurveda Students' and Youth Association (NASYA) also urged the top government officials to appoint the Ayurveda practitioners as CHOs.
"We are in the process of recruiting Ayurveda practitioners as community health officers at various health wellness centers," a senior official at the state Ayush department said.