Faced with the shortage of staff at the primary health centres and the repeated concerns raised by public interest groups, the Union Health Ministry has set an ambitious target of ensuring one doctor and one nurse at each PHC as a mandatory requirement by March 31, 2012.

The decision was taken with a view to bringing down maternal and child mortality in the country and amid concerns repeatedly raised by NGOs about the lethargic running of the primary health centres in the country.

Besides ensuring staff at the PHC, the Centre has also decided to ensure full antenatal care of the pregnant mothers and universalisation of name-based mother and child tracking system to facilitate full anti-natal care, safe delivery, post natal care and immunization of children, sources said.

“Blood banks at all district hospitals and blood storage facilities at sub-divisional hospitals and CHCs shall be set up by December 2012. In remote areas of designated hill states, desert areas and tribal pockets, birth waiting homes will be set up so that pregnant mothers and attendants can come in advance and stay for delivery. Minimum 70 per cent of funds meant for infrastructure shall henceforth be spent on sub-health centres and Primary Health Centres,’’ official sources revealed.

Sources claimed that there has been improvement in the health sector in the recent years, but still the country faced a shortage of health centres.  “There is a shortage of 20,855 sub centres, 4,833 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and 2,525 Community Health Centres (CHCs) as per the 2001 population norm. Further, 34 per cent of the existing health infrastructure is in rented buildings. Poor upkeep and maintenance, and high absenteeism of manpower in rural areas are the main problems in the health delivery system in the public sector,” sources said.

Currently there are 171,687 health centres in India and the number of dispensaries and hospitals is 33,855. While there are 1.5 million nurses in the country, the doctors in the modern system of medicine are 84,852. But a large number of PHCs are running without staff, especially the doctors.