15 Public Healthcare Centers in Udhampur district are disgrace and ignominy for the State Health Services Department, nay for the State Government itself. The Department should hang its head in shame for what it has wrought on more than three lakh of people who inhabit 17 villages and habitats comprising about half of the district in which these PHCs are located. Not a single MBBS doctor is present at any of these PHCs. Not even a single doctor is physically present against the sanctioned strength of 60 as each PHC has four sanctioned posts of doctors. The entire area of two sub-divisions of Dudu and Basantgarh and tehsil Latti starting from Sudhmahadev, and spread out all along 160 Kms long Sudhmahadev-Latti- Dudu -Basantgarh -Kulwanta- Ramnagar stretch of circular road, does not have even a single MBBS doctor physically present to treat the patients in six PHCs. At some sub-centers, sweepers are reported to be giving medicine to the patients. This is unbelieeable.
The people in the entire belt have made representations to State authorities. They have sent delegations to the Health Minister and others. Whomsoever they have met and conveyed their story of pain, suffering and deprivation, but found them dumb, blind and deaf.
The saga of travail of the entire region has been summed up Bayant Devi the Sarpanch of Chappar-Bandhole in these poignant words: “Ram Nath, a resident of Parla Chapper is presently forced to give medicines at health sub-centre Parla Chapper and is popularly called as Doctor Sahib by the illiterate resident of this far flung area but he is a sweeper in records of the State Health Department.” Any self-respecting authority of the Health Department who is the nodal figure in the administrative structure of the Department should hang his head in shame on reading this statement.
Horrendous stories of preventable and unnatural deaths are told by the villagers who are going though heart-rending experience of death for wants of medical treatment day in and day out. Be it a case of Cardiac arrest or a delivery case or some serious injury, the patient has to be carried scores of miles to reach a place where semblance of treatment or medical assistant will be available. On an average the public exchequer spends anything up to 17 lakh of rupees to make an MBBS doctor. And these doctors, when they have enjoyed the largesse of the tax payer refuse to go to rural areas and serve the people. They manipulate the administrative echelons and end up with plum postings where they mint money whether right or wrong. This is how our state administration tries to throw dust into the eyes of the people and cater to the interest of only the blue-eyed favorites. Recently, the District Development Board held its annual meeting under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister. Nobody from among the members of the Board raised the issue and sought an explanation from the concerned authorities. This callous negligence and wanton irresponsiveness on the part of authorities does not augur well for the administration. It is tantamount to testing the patience of the people. We deplore it in strongest words and hold the entire Health Department responsible for subjecting hundreds of thousands of people to discrimination and deprivation.
The Honourable High Court has taken up the matter as Public Interest Litigation merely on the basis of the news item of Daily Excelsior under the caption “No MBBS doctor in 15 PHCs of Udhampur, 112 posts lying vacant” and the preliminary enquiries conducted by the High Court; Convinced that this was a case of vital public interest, the Divisional Bench of the High Court has cracked the whip and issued notice to the Chief Secretary, Commissioner Secretary Heath & Medical Education Department, and other concerned. Additionally, the Attorney General has been asked to submit a status report indicating the sanctioned strength of doctors and paramedical staff in each District Hospital and Primary Health Centers of the State as also details of doctors and paramedical staff actually working and number of vacant posts. The DB directed that the Health Department after ascertaining the actual position from the CMOs of all the districts of the State, shall submit the same by July 20, 2015.
We highly laud the authority exercised by the High Court in taking up a very genuine and humanistic case that has hitherto met with callous indifference from the Government. The Court has very rightly generalized the situation and asked the concerned authorities to furnish status report in regard to all the districts of the State and not only of Udhampur. This is a very crucial issue and the action which the High Court will take in this case will set the precedent for future guidance of the Health Department.
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