Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR Feb 27: Over 35, 000 people are receiving treatment from a Panchayat office in Madwan and neighbouring villages of Hajin block in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district as the building of a health center in the area remains unfinished 13 years after the project was launched to meet the people’s healthcare needs.
Madwan, which is located at the bank of Wullar Lake, is a remote area with inadequate healthcare facilities, with around 35,000 people from villages such as Madwan A, Madwan B, Prang, Banyari, Malikpora, and Paribal rely on the poorly managed healthcare facility in the absence of much-needed infrastructure.
New Type Primary Health Centre (NTPHC) Madwan is one of two health centers in Hajin Medical Block that were established as part of the administration’s goal to reduce the patient load at the lone health center in the block.
The Hajin health center was serving over 36 Panchayats and was having trouble keeping up with patients rush. However, while one health center was completed on time, the construction of the other facilities was slowed by political indifference. “The health centers were allotted to the Naidkhay and Madwan areas of the tehsil, and both were taken up for execution together. While the Naidkahy Health Center was built in two to three years, the Madwan health center is lingering on,” a local privy to the details said.
Locals expressed displeasure over abandonment of the project for the past three years. The space was supposed to be used for the Eid-Gah, but the community donated it for the greater benefit, but they were let down by official indifference. “We generously handed the valuable land to the government for the sake of humanity and to put an end to our suffering in terms of medical health care,” Bashir Ahmad, local remarked.
According to residents, the hospital’s foundation stone was laid in 2008, but it is yet to be completed due to the slow pace of work. Locals claim that they are dependent on a sub-center that only provides a first-aid facility in the absence of a health center. “Only Asha workers and a pharmacist are available to assist people at any time,” a local said.
Residents claim that for the last 12 years, the construction company has only been able to complete four walls of a single structure.
The structure, which was supposed to be a full-fledged medical center, was utilized for a variety of purposes, including drying crops, sun-drying fabrics and mattings. “There are no doors or windows in the building,” remarked local Ghulam Hassan.
Block Medical Officer Hajin, Aijaz Ahmad, told Excelsior that he had recently visited the place and taken up the matter with the higher-ups. “There is a need for a health center in the area and we have forwarded the issue and are hopeful,” he said.
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