Kulgam: Amid covid-19, the residents of Agroo area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam District have been neglected by authorities to provide them basic healthcare facilities.
As per Indian Public Health Standard (IPHS) for Sub-centres. In the public sector, a Sub-health Centre (Sub-centre) is the most peripheral and first contact point between the primary health care system and the community. Jammu and Kashmir health department is claiming that it is providing effective health care in rural areas of the valley, the sub health centre Agroo in South Kashmir’s kulgam District is facing acute shortage of staff members which is badly hitting the patient-care.
Azhar Gulzar Bhat, a local student said that the sub-centre lacks staff and facilities, forcing them to reley on market or healthcare facilities elsewhere. He told Kashmir Glacier that poor healthcare facilities in the area are compelling them to reley on facilities elsewhere and pay huge fare in order to shift the patient to district hospital kulgam, 8 km from Agroo or to primary healthcare center (PHC) Devsar, kulgam.
“It is not possible for everyone to pay a fair of 200 to 300 Rupees, we demand that the Sub-centre should be given all basic facilities, Villagers have stopped to go there for medical follow-ups with children’s as the centre had been put in the dilapidated house ,” he said.
“We are facing immense problems as their are no proper staff available in sub-centre. The private building seems like a cowshed rather a sub-centre. It has unmasked tall claims of the health department. He demands that if the authorities can’t shift the sub-centre building, at least they should mend this as earlier as possible,” he added.
Another resident of the village, Bashir Ahmad, Shopkeeper said that the Sub-Centre is the identification of their village, he demands that the Sub-Centre should be given all basic facilities.
Locals said that their hopes were attached to it, for few months the sub-centre was running properly but it lost its pace.
“This sub-centre was started in 2014 and was inaugurated by MLA Mohd Amin Bhat. We don’t have the basic facilities even we don’t have Sweeper in the sub-centre as should be. We are being shifted here and there as a result local populace suffer. Shifted to elsewhere by the department makes the centre functionless,” told an Employee, Mohd Iqbal senior pharmacist.
Qazigund Block Medical Officer (BMO) Zahoor Ah told Kashmir Glacier that he will personally visit the spot in upcoming days and assured that issue will be solved very soon. (Kashmir Glacier)
