Karnataka directorate of health and family welfare will commence recruitment of Auxiliary Midwife Nurses (AMNs) and nurses for the 2,565 primary health centres (PHCs) in the 27 districts before June end.

The State Government will also hire AMNs in north Karnataka comprising Bidar, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bellary, Koppal and Bijapur under RCH (Reproductive Child Healthcare) Phase II to overcome a serious shortage there.

The shortage of AMNs has arisen because of the ban on recruitment by the State Government between 1993 and 1998 and the northern districts have been most affected.

The present strength of AMNs in the state is 10,255 and there are about 800 vacancies.

As many as 1,170 PHCs in the state are functioning without nursing staff. The proposal to appoint nurses has been sent to the finance department for approval. In the absence of nurses, children are delivered at home. The numbers of home deliveries are highest in north Karnataka region. Delivery practices adopted at home are unsafe, leading to both infant and maternal deaths. The state budget of 2005 has recommended recruitment two nurses for every PHC to bring down the infant mortality rate from 55 per 1,000 and maternal mortality rate from 195 per 1,000.

With the recruitment of nurses and AMNs, the state wants to ensure that home deliveries, which are 50 per cent of total deliveries in the state, are brought down and help improve infant and maternal mortality rates. With the appointment of nurses, more women will be encouraged to deliver at hospital.

The Directorate has made it mandatory to recruit 30 AMNs for each district and additional recruitment is done from the tribal areas of the state. These will undergo intensive training for one-and-a-half years at the 19 AMN training centres located in the 19 districts of the state. The recruitment status is reviewed every 18 months, stated D. Thangaraj, Principal Secretary, Health and Family welfare, Government of Karnataka.

The AMNs who are field workers, serve mainly at the PHCs and only a few are posted in the government hospitals and conduct household surveys to track the number of pregnant women in the region and inform them about the maternity services available in the district.