Karnataka HC takes serious note of shortage of doctors & medical staff, initiates PIL on its own

Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday took a serious note of the shortage of doctors and medical staff in state-run hospitals and initiated Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on this matter on its own.

As the proceedings began, Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit, presiding over the bench, referred to a news report on October 16 regarding the shortage of 16,500 medical staff, including doctors, technicians, and various other personnel.

Subsequently, the Registrar of the HC was directed to register a public interest petition based on the news report and place it before the Court.

Furthermore, the HC, pointing to the report, noted that there is a shortage of primary health centres in 454 rural areas. The report also said there is a shortage of 723 MBBS doctors, 7,492 nurses, 1,517 lab technicians, 1,517 pharmacists, 1,752 attendants, and 3,253 Group D workers, constituting various categories of medical staff.

To assist the court in this matter, advocate Shreedhar Prabhu has been appointed as amicus curiae.