Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 22 December 2025
Member of Parliament for Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Mr. Bishnu Pada Ray, has taken up a series of long-pending healthcare demands of the islands with the Union Health Ministry, seeking urgent intervention to address shortages in specialist manpower and frontline health workers.
Ray, accompanied by Mr. Prakash Adhikari, Adhyaksha, Zilla Parishad, South Andaman, met Dr. Vinod Kotwal, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in New Delhi on Thursday and submitted detailed representations outlining the pressing concerns.
According to the MP, the foremost requirement is the posting of specialist doctors from the Central Health Services (CHS) cadre to strengthen specialist care in the islands’ government hospitals. He also urged the ministry to depute specialist doctors on rotation until permanent postings are completed, ensuring uninterrupted medical services.
The delegation further sought clearance for the creation of 44 health worker posts — male and female — proposed by the A&N Administration and pending before the ministry. These positions, Ray said, are crucial for improving primary-level healthcare delivery across remote island settlements.
Dr. Kotwal is learnt to have responded positively, assuring that the issues flagged would be examined on priority and necessary approvals expedited. She also conveyed that the ministry would communicate the outcome in due course.
Expressing optimism after the meeting, Ray said he was confident that the Union Government would extend full support to addressing the long-standing healthcare needs of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
