Indore (Madhya Pradesh): With the monsoon season knocking on the doors, health department officials should be on an overdrive to control vector-borne diseases. However, the health department officials are getting cold feet in controlling the mosquito menace, thanks to paucity of staff.
The malaria wing of the health department is facing a staff crunch as no new appointment has been made in the department for the last eight years. Moreover, many of the employees and staff have retired and no replacements have been given.
There were 45-50 employees about eight years ago who were responsible for anti-larva activities, fogging, and surveying in the areas where cases of dengue were found but now only half of the employees are remaining.
“The city is growing in area and so is the density of population. Work of the malaria department has increased with the growing city but the shrinking staff is proving a hurdle in the work,” department’s staff said.
They also added that various works like preparing slides; surveying the affected areas, fogging, and distributing are affected. “Due to shortage of hands, the teams couldn’t reach the rural areas for surveying,” the staff said.
District malaria officer Dr Daulat Patel accepted the shortage of staff and said that they have asked the department to appoint staff at the earliest.
“Yes, we are facing a staff crunch as no appointment has been made in the last eight years. We have informed the senior officials and are expecting some appointments soon,” he said.
Indore was worst hit by the deadly dengue disease in 2021 when over 1200 cases were found. In 2022, 242 cases were found which gave a reason for health officials to heave a sigh of relief.
This year, 19 dengue cases have been reported so far and the number is likely to increase.
