Karnataka High Court Takes Suo Moto Cognizance Of Medical Personnel Shortfall In State

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday took suo-motu cognizance of a news report published in The New Indian Express newspaper, highlighting a shortfall of around 16,500 medical personnel in the State.

A division bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit took cognizance of the report dated 16-10-2023, which refers to The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) report released in September 2023. The report stated that along with medical personnel, there is a shortage of Primary Healthcare Centres across Karnataka with 454 centres (245 urban and 209 rural centres) in deficit.

The report gives a tabular statement about the deficit of medical staff. As per the report, there is a shortfall of 723 MBBS Doctors, 7,492 nurses, 1,517 lab technicians, 1,512 pharmacist, 1,752 assistants, 3,253 Group D employees.

The bench said “There are other statements in the news item that show that this issue needs immediate attention, as it is certainly an issue of a larger public interest. Accordingly this new item is taken cognizance of.”

The court appointed Advocate Shridhar Prabhu to assist the court as amicus curiae and Advocate Vachan to assist him and file a petition in the court within two weeks.