Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 14: The activists of Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (NPP) held massive demonstration outside the office of Director Health Services Jammu in protest against the ailing health care sector in the State and the shabby plight of various health institutes suffering for want of staff, medicines and equipments.
The angry protestors raised slogans of “Health Minister Hai Hai”, …”Doctors Aur Para Medical staff ki Kami Door Karo”. The protesters also torched the effigy of Health Minister, Ch Lal Singh and alleged that there is no proper cleanliness in Wards, especially at GMC and SMGS hospitals. The bathrooms are dirty and there is leakage in taps and pipes. The condition of GandhiNagar hospital is also not so good.
The protesters were addressed by Harshdev Singh Chairman JKNPP and Balwant Singh Mankotia State president and Yash Paul Kundal State president Young Panthers.
Alleging that the health sector was in shambles, Harshdev Singh lashed out at the senior functionaries of the Department for what he described as mis-governance, rampant corruption, transfer industry, spurious drugs, large scale attachments and deployments, acute deficiency of doctors and para medical staff especially in the remote area, non availability of medicines and equipments in Health institutions and mushrooming growth of quacks and non registered practitioners with full connivance of Health Deptt functionaries. He regretted that repeated complaints and representations to the Health authorities had fallen on deaf ears in view of political patronage enjoyed by the delinquents. Some incompetent and junior people have been placed at senior positions and even offered chair of Medical/ Dy Medical Superintendents without having requisite qualifications.
Lambasting the Health Department for the extremely shabby plight of Health institutes especially in rural areas Mr Singh regretted that they neither had the staff, nor infrastructure nor medicines nor the requisite medical equipments. He said that even the Primary Health Centers (PHCs) in the town do not have the requisite staff, medicines, essential facilities of X-ray machines, ultra sound and ECGs facilities which are basic. He said that National Rural Health Mission schemes have totally collapsed and there is no sign of any development in the Heath sector in rural areas.
Mr Mankotia while regretting the pitiable plight of GMC Jammu and Super Specialty Hospital said that during his visit to these institutes the patients as well as their attendants made serious complaints regarding poor services, non availability of medicines besides shabby condition of labs and other medical equipment. He was told that thyroid test machine, ‘Gamma outer’ was non functional for the last one year in GMC Jammu and last two months in Super Specialty Hospital with patients being referred to private clinics. He said that out of 10 ventilators in ICU ward of emergency three were non-functional for the last six months.
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