| Azad fails to cure ailing health system in J&K | | Doda-Kishtwar's hospitals lack infrastructure, staff | | Asif Iqbal Naik
Kishtwar, Nov 17: Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad who was voted all time best Health Minister of India recently, has failed to cure the ailing health system in state of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in peripheral.
Doda-Kishtwar not only lacks infrastructure, there is also an acute shortage of staff in many hospitals, forcing their functional crash down. In one such example, Health Sub-Centre Sambol of Kuchhal in Tehsil Chatroo of Kishtwar has been shut down since last three months. Even though the Union Government pumped hundreds of crores of rupees in the state of Jammu and Kashmir under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), but the state government failed to make judicious use of the funds.
Locals informed ET that Health Sub Centre Kuchhal also crashed down after a sweeper namely Noor Hussain, the only staff member in the centre was transferred recently. With the closure of this sub centre, about 5000 people living in
the area have been rendered without any healthcare facility.
It is not only the case of Health Sub Centre Kuchhal, but District Hospitals Kishtwar and Doda also face lot of problems due to shortage of staff. Over 100 posts of Doctors, Specialist, Paramedical staff, Nurses, Sweepers and other are vacant in both Doda and Kishtwar Hospitals. The Health Sub Centre in remote Marwah and Warwan areas of Kishtwar District which remain cut off from the rest of the state for almost 6 months also face similar problem and are closed since last several months. Many employees in health department linked the problem of growing absenteeism in rural areas with monopoly at District level offices and said that any employee if posted in remote area like Marwah, Warwan, Dachhan, Machail, Bhunzwah, Saroor, Marmat, Dessa or in any other remote area of Chenab valley has to wait for several years for their transfers while employees posted in urban hospitals like District Hospital Kishtwar or Doda have stayed immune to transfers.
Local MLA Inderwal Ghulam Mohammad Saroori said that he had already taken up the matter with the state health Minister and also discussed the same with Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Saroori said that both assured him to address the problem. |
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