Pauri Hospital in terrible mess. Only one doctor to care thousand of patients.
Pauri Hospital in terrible mess. Only one doctor to care thousand of patients.
Sunil Negi,
President,
Forum of Uttarakhand Journalists
Sounds shocking, a state that has two chief ministers from its PAURI GARHWAL district , one from a tiny state of Uttrakhand with merely 5 MPs’ Trivendra Singh Rawat n another from the largest state of the largest democracy of the world, UTTAR PRADESH, REPRESENTING eighty members of parliament , namely YOGI ADITYANATH, its four decades old government hospital has merely one doctor to cater to the medical needs of hundreds of patients on daily basis thronging the hospital from local Pauri township n the distant villages of the interior Pauri district for treatment of various ailments.
Uttrakhand came into separate state existence seventeen years ago n till date about eight to nine chief ministers have ruled the state with the state running into the staggering fiscal deficit of about 47 thousand crores. Prior to the separate Uttrakhand state when it was in undevided Uttar Pradesh Pauri township primarily developed by the Britishers was a commissionery n majority of the headquarter of various departments were in Pauri.
The Pauri hospital then had good number of doctors n ample amount of other facilities but unfortunately after the formation of separate UK state, not only majority of the offices have been shifted to Dehradun n other parts of the newly formed state but the medical facilities of the Pauri hospital have also gone awry n today there is not only a single doctor here to cater to the medical needs of thousands of patients but shockingly the hospital is also devoid of medicinal n other emergency facilities not to speak of the treatment of major critical illnesses. The pharmacists are also conspicuous by their absence most of the time. You will hardly find glucose here or xray/ ultrasound machines functioning.
There have been hundred of instances when patients have died on the way while carrying them to Delhi or Dehradun for treatment in view of of non availability of a senior doctor or surgeon at Pauri hospital. Similar aweful situation exists in majority of the district hospitals in Uttrakhand as a result people go to private hospitals n are constrained to pay heavily despite their financial tightness. Even in Dehradun, the state’s capital there are no arrangements for the treatment of serious or critical illness n majority of the patients have to take the services of the highly expensive private hospitals like Fortis n Max thus selling their lands n houses. The lawmakers n ministers however enjoy the full immunity n privileges n are being treated at high profile private hospital under government expenses. It’s because of the total lack of medical facilities in Uttarakhand that thirty lack people have migrated to cities n metropolises of the country making Uttarakhand villages totally bereft of inhabitants. Today about 3000 villages of Uttarakhand are population less n little efforts are being initiated by the governments concerned to reverse the situation. About 40% agricultural fields have turned barren as the new generation has baded good bye to KHETI. If we talk of the decentralized social economic, industrial, agricultural, horticultural, educational n other forms of infrastructural development leading to employment generation the situation is more shocking n worrisome as nothing hs happened here during the last 17 years except enhancement in Mafia raj n corruption at every level with literally no governmental regulation. What’s your take on this friends? I congratulate the JAGO Uttarakhand News Channel for highlighting this plight of the poor n hapless patients of Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand.