Machil residents rue lack of better health facilities

Kupwara, Nov 16: The residents of the Machil sector have expressed resentment against the authorities for failing to ensure better health facilities for them due to which they are subjected to face hardships.

They said that though the Primary Health Centre (PHC) situated at Duddi was established several years ago, the lack of staff and other facilities had always been a cause of discomfort for them.
They alleged that the concerned authorities were watching their sufferings as mute spectators.
The residents complained that the health centre was inadequately staffed due to which patient care had been badly hit.

They said that of the six sanctioned posts of the doctors, two were vacant, while the health centre was running without a pharmacist.
Similarly, the post of Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) was also vacant.
“Not only Community Health Officer (CHO)’s post lies vacant but one each post of junior assistant, health educator, X-ray technician, dental technician, lab technician, and permanent sweeper posts were lying vacant which tells upon its smooth functioning,” they said.

The residents said that though the dental chair worth Rs 8 lakh was installed here the dental doctor had never been deputed despite the availability of the post here.
The residents complained that in the absence of X-rays and proper diagnostic testing facilities, patients were forced to visit Sub District Hospital (SDH) Kupwara or District Hospital Handwara.
Pregnancy care has also been hit badly due to the non-availability of a gynaecologist at PHC Duddi.

As a result, women of the area face severe hardships, especially during winters when the Kupwara-Machil road remains closed for several days.
The residents said that Machil which consists of 11 Panchayats remains cut off from district headquarters more often during the winter because of intense snowfall due to which people tend to face immense health-related hardships.

“During winters, the road remains cut off. It is when people face most of the brunt here. Patients are carried on stretchers by covering several kilometres on foot to reach midway from where we avail the services of public transport to reach Kupwara,” a local said.

The residents said that they had brought these issues to the notice of the concerned officials numerous times but nothing concrete had been done in this regard so far.

The locals sought immediate intervention from Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha in this regard so that the genuine grievances of the people were redressed.
They appealed to the LG’s administration to upgrade the existing PHC to the level of Sub District Hospital for better healthcare.