GS Asgotra
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Dec 9: The health department has surely turned a blind eye towards the rural areas of Samba where a contractual Female Multi-Purpose Worker (FMPW) has been running health sub-centre at Rayour for the last many months. The FMPW also rarely visits the centre, forcing villagers to travel several miles to get medical treatment. "Rayour health centre caters to the needs of nine hamlets which have a population of several hundreds. In the absence of FMPW and others staffers, the people are forced to travel several miles to get medical treatment," locals said. "Majority of the people of this hilly belt are poor and backward. As the Rayour health centre mainly remains closed, they travel to Sumb, Nud and district hospital, Samba, which are nearly 15 km from their village", they said. Source in health department said there were two posts of male and female MPWs in every sub-centre of rural areas but the department had so far not filled these vacancies and had even failed to utilise properly the funds sanctioned under National Rural Health Mission. "The government claims that health facilities have been gradually improving in the state are totally farce," the villagers said. Sham Lal said apart from Rayour, many other sub-centres of Kandi belt of Samba had been facing the shortage of staff. "All newly created districts of Jammu province are facing the same problem", he added. Mohammad Saleem, a resident of Panchayat Kard, said that a few days back when he visited the Rayour sub-centre for treatment of his chest pain, he found it locked. "When I enquired from locals, they said the female pharmacist appointed there rarely comes," he claimed. When this correspondent spoke to Sarpanch of Kard, Ranjeet Singh, he said that he had repeatedly urged the chief medical officer for the permanent posting of a male and a female multipurpose worker in the sub-centre but the department had not considered their demand. Block Medical Officer of Nud, Dr Bharat Bhushan said that CMO had already apprised him about the dereliction of duty by Female Multi Purpose Worker and shortly an enquiry committee would be constituted and action would be taken, if she was found guilty. |