Some years ago Shopian was carved out of the district of Pulwama. Creating new districts, tehsils, nayabats and patwars, the task that the Revenue Department had been pursuing for long, was essentially meant to streamline administration in various ways by reducing the work load of functionaries. But the essential purpose was to give efficient administration to the people. After examining the condition at District Hospital in Shopian, the tall claim of providing good governance pales into disaster. Owing to ravages of flood, many health care centres in South Kashmir have become dysfunctional. As such there is big rush of patients in Shopian district hospital. But the hospital has neither equipment nor faculty nor other facilities to serve the patients who are referred to it. The USG machine for example is collecting dust for last two months. Nobody cares of getting it repaired and put to use. Patients contacted by our correspondents have harrowing tales to tell about what trauma they are made to undergo for even a small treatment. There is acute deficiency of doctors and supporters of healthcare; there is lack of medicine and necessary equipment needed for diagnosis and check ups. A handful of three or four doctors is too small a number to expect that they will reach all the patients. The question of having specialized treatment does not arise.
Health authorities should take immediate steps to provide necessary wherewithal to Shopian district hospital. Discipline of the hospital staff even if their number is small, has to be enforced. Now, prospective candidates for elections in the constituency will go on making tall promises of bringing streams of milk and honey into the constituency. But before making such tall promises, the veteran candidates must assure that they will serve the people from whom they ask the votes to catapult them into the seat of a legislative member. There are many instances when tall promises are made of providing super speciality hospital and other facilities but at the end of the day there is nothing on the cards. Director Health Services Kashmir is duty bound to provide minimum staff and equipment to Shopian district hospital.
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