Mamata Banerjee Proposes ‘Barefoot Doctors’ To Tide Over Acute Shortage Of Medics In Rural Areas

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has proposed introduction of diploma courses in medicine to tide over the acute shortage of doctors in rural areas of the state.

Banerjee asked State Health Secretary Narayan Swarup Nigam to set up a committee of health experts to explore the possibility of introducing short-term diploma courses in medicine, on the lines of diploma courses in engineering.

The Chief Minister said that earning an MBBS degree takes five years and most medical graduates prefer to go for specialised postgraduate degrees or diplomas. Only a small proportion of the postgraduates opt for government service, and almost all are posted in hospitals in urban areas. 

“Diploma doctors can be posted in the primary health centres, especially in the rural areas. It won’t be difficult to start a diploma course since we have many professors and doctors serving in government hospitals. They can be roped in to impart training to students of medical diploma courses,” Banerjee said. 

The Chief Minister also suggested that senior nurses with many years of experience who are on the verge of retirement can be appointed as ‘quasi-doctors’. 

Banerjee’s suggestion is not new. The earlier Left front government had introduced a three-year diploma course in community medicine for ‘quasi-doctors’ to serve in rural areas. But the course was discontinued a few years after it started due to strong opposition from the medical fraternity. 

By that time, three batches of these ‘diploma doctors’ had passed out. Some of them subsequently underwent clinical courses and were employed as ‘community health service officers’. 

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had mooted this proposal twice — in 2009 and again in 2013. In 2009, the UPA under prime minister Manmohan Singh had proposed to introduce three-year ‘Bachelor of Rural Medical Service’ courses. But the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and other bodies of health practitioners strongly opposed the move. 

In 2013, the UPA government once again proposed the introduction of a three year BSc (Bachelor of Science) in ‘community health’.  But that, too, ran into stiff opposition. 

The concept of ‘barefoot doctors’ originated in China in the mid-1960s under Chairman Mao. Tens of thousands of people were provided basic medical training and paramedical courses and they were mandated to promote basic hygiene, preventive healthcare and family planning among rural folks, besides treating common illnesses like malaria, dysentery etc. 

This concept, though successful, was abandoned in the late 1980s when China embraced market reforms. 

Mamata Banerjee’s proposal is also set to run into rough weather due to opposition from medical practitioners who say that such a step would spell disaster and adversely affect rural people who would be left at the mercy of ‘unqualified quacks”. 

A government doctor caters to the medical needs of 10,411 patients in Bengal. In rural areas, this ratio is much more disconcerting. As a result, rural folks depend on quacks and imposters.