Bijay Charak
Early Times Report
Jammu, Sept 14: Set up 25 years ago, the sub-district hospital (SDH), Darhal, in Rajouri, faces shortage of doctors, exposing the tall claims of the government to strengthen rural health institutions. Four posts of specialists and seven posts of medical officers (MOs) are lying vacant for the past few years. The hospital also allegedly lacks the basic facilities of power backup during a power outage. Mohmmad Amin, a resident of Darhal, said even after more than two decades of its establishment, the hospital was performing major surgeries. Official sources said five posts of consultants, including surgeon, gynecologist, physician, anesthetist and paediatrics, were sanctioned by the government to this hospital but at present only paediatrician was available while the other four posts had been lying vacant for many years. Out of the eight sanctioned posts of MOs, the hospital had only one, the sources added. "To maintain the regularity of electricity in order to run the emergency services smoothly, the government had last year proposed Rs 20 lakh for 20 KV power backup to the hospital but it is yet not provided", the sources added. "Machineries worth crores are lying unused in the hospital because there are no experts to run them," sources alleged. "People come to the hospital for treatment after walking long distances, but thr non-availability of services disappoint them," said Rayaz, adding that people were so poor that they could not even shift patients to the district hospital, Rajouri, or GMCH, Jammu. Despite repeated phone calls, CMO, Rajouri, did not pick up the phone. |
