At present, there are six assistant medical officers in PMC and a few of them have fallen ill. (Express Photo: Ashish Kale)

With cases rising rapidly in the civic jurisdiction, the Maharashtra government has deputed a senior health officer of the state cadre to handle the situation in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), which is already reeling under shortage of health staff. A few senior civic health officers have also fallen ill.

The state government has deputed Nitin Bilolikar, District Surgeon, as the medical officer of PMC. “The spread of the viral disease has been fast in the state, mainly in the limits of municipal corporations. It is necessary to take steps to check the spread of the disease. The deputed officer has to take up the responsibility on temporary basis,” the government order stated.

Bilolikar has been asked to join the PMC as medical officer with immediate effect. The appointment has been done to check the spread of Covid-19 in city limits.

The PMC already has Ramchandra Hankare, another state cadre health officer, leading the civic health department. So, there would be two medical health officers for PMC now from the state cadre.

The appointment of Hankare was done a few years ago as the post of chief medical officer of PMC was vacant for long. The post of deputy medical officer as well as a few posts of assistant medical officers are also lying vacant for long.

At present, there are six assistant medical officers in PMC and a few of them have fallen ill. Also, various posts of medical and paramedical staff are vacant in civic hospitals prompting PMC to start the appointment process with immediate effect. PMC has also started hiring medical and paramedical staff on contract to tackle increasing number of patients.

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