The Madhya Pradesh government has approved a pilot project to hand over the management of 18 Community Health Centres (CHCs) in the districts of Rewa, Guna and Dewas to private operators, aiming to address the acute shortage of specialist doctors in the state’s public healthcare system.
According to reports, only 113 of the 1,320 sanctioned specialist posts across 327 operational CHCs in Madhya Pradesh are currently filled. The shortage has affected the availability of essential specialists, including surgeons, physicians, gynaecologists and paediatricians, whose services are mandated at CHCs under national public health norms.
The initiative will be implemented as a five-year pilot programme. State officials said the project’s outcomes will be reviewed after this period and, if found successful, the model could be expanded to other CHCs across the state. The extended evaluation period suggests that the government views the move as a potential long-term reform rather than a temporary measure to address staffing gaps.
The proposal is being seen as a significant public-private partnership experiment in Madhya Pradesh’s healthcare sector. Reports indicate that five of the 18 CHCs selected for the pilot currently function without a single specialist doctor.
Under the arrangement, the government will continue to provide medicines and infrastructure, while the selected private agencies, trusts or organisations will be responsible for recruiting specialist doctors and other healthcare personnel, as well as managing the day-to-day functioning of the facilities.
Health Department officials said the decision was prompted by persistent workforce shortages that have made it difficult to provide specialist services in several rural health centres. The Public Health and Medical Education Department has been tasked with preparing and finalising the tender documents for operating the identified facilities.
In an official statement, the department said the Council of Ministers had approved the outsourcing of management at selected CHCs in Rewa, Dewas and Guna, particularly those where most doctor positions remain vacant.
The move comes against the backdrop of a broader staffing crisis in the state’s healthcare system. Data for 2025-26 show that nearly 75% of specialist doctor posts in Madhya Pradesh remain vacant. Of the 5,443 sanctioned specialist positions, only 1,495 are occupied, leaving 3,948 posts unfilled. The shortage also extends to general medical officers, with 2,689 of the 6,513 sanctioned posts lying vacant.
Health department assessments have repeatedly highlighted the lack of doctors at rural facilities as a major obstacle to ensuring round-the-clock healthcare services. Consequently, many patients from remote areas are forced to travel long distances to district hospitals and medical colleges for treatments that are expected to be available at the CHC level.
Officials said the pilot project has been introduced to improve access to healthcare services in underserved regions and reduce the burden on higher-level hospitals by strengthening care closer to people’s homes.
