Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Dec 25: Reflecting the sorry state of healthcare, a woman delivered her baby under the lights of mobile phones in Sub-District Hospital (SDH) Handwara in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district last night as the hospital is without electricity for the past few days.
The woman, Mehfooza Jan, was admitted in SDH yesterday as she was pregnant. The woman developed labour pain last night and she was taken to the labour room. However, her family said, there was no electricity and the labour room was in complete darkness.
The family of the woman further said that when they asked hospital authorities to use the generator they refused the same. As the pain grew, the nurses with the help of the mobile phone torches arranged the light and mad her deliver the baby.
The non-availability of electricity in the hospital enraged attendants and today they held a protest against concerned authorities. They said that SDH is in shambles but the concerned authorities are not paying any heed towards it.
Trying to downplay the incident, Chief Medical Officer of Kupwara, Dr Ghulam Nabi Lone claimed that the “light went for only few seconds”. “The generator was functioning and there was a sudden breakdown. The light went for only few seconds and later it was restored,” he told Excelsior. The senior medical officer said that he went himself to the hospital and assured that no such incident would take place in future.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Kupwara, RK Ranjan said he has ordered a time-bound probe into the incident. “I have ordered the probe into the incident and also sought explanation from Medical Superintendent (MS) SDH Handwara. The salary of the MS has also been stopped,” he said.
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