Yogi's White Paper blames Akhilesh over poor health infrastructure in UP

The state was falling short of govt doctors by 40%, yet the previous regime had no action plan to fill the vacant posts

The White Paper released by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday has highlighted the poor state of government hospitals and public health infrastructure in Uttar Pradesh under the previous Akhilesh Yadav government.

According to the White Paper, when the Yogi government had taken over in March 2017, the state of the health and medical sector in UP was appalling and there was an acute shortage of doctors in hospitals, especially in rural areas. 

The state was falling short of government doctors by 40 per cent, yet the previous regime had no action plan to fill the vacant posts.

The government hospitals were facing scarcity of medicines and equipment like CT Scan and MRI, while the drug procurement process was being delayed due to corruption. 

The document indicted the previous government for its failure to prepare against Japanese Encephalitis and other vector-borne diseases.

The document also slammed the earlier regime over purported apathy towards National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), wherein funds were released without proper evaluation or utilisation certificates. It alleged financial irregularities in the release of funds and non-adherence to the open bidding norm.

The document is was critical of the Akhilesh government over medical education too, claiming buildings were constructed for proposed medical colleges without any provision of teachers or the necessary infrastructure for their functioning.

It contains abridged details of the functioning of 25 different sectors and state departments under previous chief ministers, especially during Akhilesh rule.