JODHPUR, July 24 -- The Rajasthan high court has expressed concern over a large number of vacancies in specialist doctor posts in the state and observed that if the figures are found to be correct, they indicate that something gravely wrong exists in the functioning of the state's medical, health and family welfare department. Hearing a public interest litigation filed by Niramaya Trust, a bench of justices Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Sanjeet Purohit was on Wednesday presented with a compilation of specialist manpower data based on the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Report of 2024 relating to the directorate of medical and health services, Rajasthan. According to the data placed before the court, Rajasthan has 5,769 sanctioned posts of specialist doctors, of which 3,545 are filled, leaving 2,224 vacancies, amounting to an overall vacancy rate of 38.55%. The figures indicate particularly high shortages among surgeons, where 770 of 1,491 posts are vacant, followed by physicians with 477 vacancies out of 1,267 sanctioned posts. Significant vacancies were also shown in orthopaedic surgery, ophthalmology, radiology, gynaecology and paediatrics. The bench noted that while the statistics and their source were subject to verification by the state government, the figures available on record raised serious concerns. "If these are kinds of vacancies projected and the respondents are unable to fill those vacancies, then it reflects that the masses in the shape of a common citizen would be directly suffering from vacant posts of doctors at such level," the court observed. Appearing for the medical, health and family welfare department, counsel Aditi Sharma sought time to verify the data and respond to the court's query regarding the circumstances in which such a large number of specialist posts have remained vacant across state. Accepting the request, the court posted the matter for further hearing on July 30. The petition, argued by advocate Varsha Bissa, challenges state's policy of filling junior specialist posts only via promotion....