Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government, on Tuesday, admitted in the state assembly that there was still a shortage of 7,348 doctors even though the government had appointed 3,253 doctors through various procedures.

Replying to a question put up by Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Manoj Paras, minister for rural development Mahendra Singh said that there are 841 specialised doctors who have also been appointed by this government.

The SP members said that there was a shortage of doctors and medicines in government hospitals and patients were being forced to opt for private nursing homes for treatment.

Mr Singh said that the process did not allow appointment of specialised doctors but only those who had passed MBBS. However, he asserted that there was no shortage of medicines in government hospitals and the retirement of doctors had also been increased from 60 years to 62 years to cope with the shortage. Doctors were also being appointed on contractual basis.