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| Delay in upgadation of hospitals in J&K | | | When in mid 70's Sheikh Abdullah conceived the idea of establishing a medical institute in Soura, Srinagar, he had in his mind the plight of patients who had no other alternative but to seek treatment from the doctors either in the PGI chandigarh or AIIMS,New Delhi.And while initiaing measures for the implementation of the project the Sheikh had announced that after the institute was functional patients from the state will have not have to go to Delhi or Chandigarh for receiving treatment from the specialists in the AIIMS or the PGI.And gradually the infrast ructure in the Soura institute was developed which could be compared to the AIIMS to some extent. Apart from specialists from outside the state highly qualified doctors from within the state were taken on the staff of the inst itute.A stage had reached when except for a few disciplines the institute had a complete network of different departments that could cater to the requirements of the indoor and the outdoor patients.People from Jammu an Kashmir had to go to the AIIMS or the PGI only for seeking treatment to their ailments for which the facilities did not exist in the Soura Institute. However,the rise of militancy caused major damage to the health sector,including the Soura institute where top doctors either quit their jobs or went on long leave in search of greener pastures in rest of the country and in some foreign lands. Several years ago the Government of India accorded sanction to the establishmeent of two super specialty hospitls in Srinagar and Jammu under the Prime Minister's Swasthya Suraksha Yojna.These two hospitals were to be built on the pattern of the AIIMS for which the centre had agreed to meet 80 per cent expenses.Because of limited working season the hospital in Srinagar was to be completed somewhere in 2008 that in Jammu was to be made functional by 2007.But both the projects have been delayed.Even the extended deadline for the completion of the hospital in Jammu has been further extended to the middle of the next year.Even though the construction work may be completed within next three months,in case of Jammu hospital,and over one year in case of Srinagar complex it may take another year or so for the setting up of the infrastructure.This way the Government's idea of providing treatment to patients on the pattern that was available in the AIIMS and the PGI is yet to bear fruit.
Whether owing to militancy or on account of other reasons the entire health sector has been affected to the extent that a large number of people,suffering from various ailments,are seen seeking treatment from doctors not only in the AIIMS and the PGI but in the top hospitals set up in the private sector in Delhi and its adjoining areas.Some doctors,serving in these private hospitals are frequent visitors to the hospitals and nursing homes in Jammu and Kashmir where patients are given proper treatment.In fact the health sector in the rural areas has suffered prolonged Government neglect. However,during the last five years a number of steps have been taken up to upgrade the infrastructure in the health centres,district hospitals but a majority of patients from the villages are seen thronging the hospitals,including the t wo medical colleges and the two others set up in the private sector, in Jammu and Sringar for getting treatment to their ailments. The Government has plans of completing const ruction of 21 primary health centres and other health institutions so that the current stress on doctors in the two medical colleges because of influx of patients from the rural belts was reduced.Despite the fact that the Government has,during the last five years,further developed the infrastructure in the hospitals in the two capital cities and at the district and tehsil heaquarters people keep on banking on treatment in hospitals outside the state.Not only this,the Government has introduced a scheme under which those doctors and paramedics who agreed to work in rural hospitals and health centres would get higher wages than those posted in the urban belts.This could remove the bane of shortage of doctors in the rural areas.Still the entire health sector requires major overhauling so that doctors attend to the requirements of patients with a humane heart. |
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