Gujarat has approved new urban community health centres in Ghuma, Viratnagar, Lambha and Maktampura in Ahmedabad, along with one centre in Porbandar, in a move aimed at bringing primary and diagnostic healthcare closer to residents in expanding urban areas.
The state health department has approved 23 positions for each of the five centres, taking the total to 115 appointments. The Nav Gujarat Samay report said the posts will include temporary and outsourced staff, with salaries and allowances to be paid through grants according to municipal-area norms.
The Ahmedabad centres will provide medical consultations and treatment, along with X-ray and laboratory services. The planned staffing structure includes two medical officers at each centre, as well as one paediatrician and one gynaecologist. The department has also approved positions for an X-ray technician, laboratory technician, junior pharmacist, staff nurse and ward attendant.
The health department said the centres are being established under the urban health project in response to the continuing increase in Ahmedabad’s population and built-up area. Ghuma, described in the report as a relatively affluent area, and the three other Ahmedabad locations with middle-income populations will receive the new facilities under the same programme.
The planned staffing is intended to address basic healthcare needs within neighbourhoods rather than requiring residents to travel to larger hospitals or distant facilities for initial consultations, routine treatment and selected diagnostic services. The inclusion of paediatric and women’s health specialists also gives the centres a defined focus on children and women alongside general medical care.
According to the report, staff will be appointed on different terms. Qualified specialist doctors will be engaged temporarily at higher remuneration, while other personnel will receive compensation equivalent to minimum wages. The report did not specify the opening dates of the centres, the exact premises where they will operate or when recruitment will begin.
The approvals come as Ahmedabad’s urban footprint continues to expand beyond established city neighbourhoods. For the four Ahmedabad locations, the effectiveness of the decision will depend on the appointment of the sanctioned staff and the start of consultation, imaging and laboratory services at the approved centres. The health department’s next steps are the recruitment and deployment of personnel under the approved staffing framework.
