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Healthcare takes centre stage, finally! 161

also specified a lower range of 23 health workers per 10,000 population to achieve 80 per cent
of births attended by skilled health professionals.

5.23 Although aggregate human resources for health density in India is close to the lower
threshold of 23, the distribution of health workforce across states is lop-sided. Also, the skill
mix (doctor/nurse-midwives ratio) is far from adequate. State-level variations in the density of
health workers and the skill mix reflects that while Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir have a high
density of doctors, states like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have a larger number
of nurses and midwives but a very low density of doctors. Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Tamil
Nadu reflect a better balance of doctors and nurses and midwives (Figure 13 and 14).

Figure 13: density of doctors and
Nurses/Midwives in different Indian states

Figure 14: density of doctors, Nurses/Midwives and
allied professionals in different Indian states

Source: Periodic Labour Force Survey 2017-18 (Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation
2019) and Population Projection for 2018 (Census of India 2020).