Suhail Bhat
Srinagar, Nov 28: For last 10 years, people in South Kashmir’s Akran area of Kulgam district are awaiting completion of construction work on New Type Primary Health Centre (NTPHC) paucity of funds and an alleged political indifference has rendered the whole initiative ineffective.
The locals of the area said nearly 10 years have passed since the then Government announced much-needed health center in their area but “political indifference” has put the whole initiative in tatters. “The main construction work on the building is complete but the Government has failed to make it functional. It was inaugurated in the year 2008 but it’s still incomplete,” said Ghulam Mohammad Shah, a local.
Local residents said that Government’s failure to complete the construction work within stipulated time has irked the locals, who feel administration was indifferent towards the problem they face in availing the health services. “The gaps in the implementation of the program are visible but none is ready to accept the failure,” the locals said.
The residents said that they repeatedly raised the issue with the authorities but their pleas went unheard. “We are unable to fathom reasons behind this political indifference. Presently, the people of more than a dozen villages have to travel seven-eight kilometers for basic health care. We are unable to fathom reasons behind this political indifference,” they said.
An official of the Health Department said soon after the health center was inaugurated in the year 2008, construction work on a two-story building was initiated which was supposed to be built with a total project cost of nearly Rs 1.80 crores. “An amount of Rs 1.50 crores has already been released against the work done and only an amount of Rs. 30 lakhs is pending. The building was complete but not handed over to the Health Department,” he said.
Block Medical Officer, Abdul Rashid, when contacted, said the building was damaged in the devastating floods of 2014 and the Health Department was yet to take the building from the executing agency. “Earlier, the Housing Board was executing the construction work and it would have handed over the building to us but then floods hit the Valley and whole process came to halt. The floods damaged the building at several places. The building needs to be repaired before making it functional,” he said.
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