HKS delegation under the chairmanship of Dr. Kuldip Singh Tanwar, its president met Director, Health and Family Welfare Department, Dr. Anita Mahajan and apprised her about the poor condition of health services in Kasumpti assembly constituency.
Dr. Tanwar said Kasumpti assembly constituency is nearest to capital city of Shimla, but 53 percent of the posts in 14 categories of health are lying vacant. Among the major categories, 56 percent of staff nurses , 71 percent of lab technicians , 50 percent of pharmacists , 60 percent posts of women health workers are lying vacant. On the other hand, the situation is even more serious in sub-health centers where only 7 out of 15 female health workers and only 2 out of 15 male health workers are workers, Dr Tanwar said.
Dr. Tanwar charged that the situation is so bad here that in some health centers, sanitation workers or class IV employees are doubling as nurses injecting drugs and doing testing blood etc. The government may have made the tests free of cost but its benefits do not reach the needy as the posts of lab technicians are lying vacant in the hospitals and there is no one to do the tests, he said.
Satyawan Pundir, District President of Himachal Kisan Sabha, who was a part of the delegation, said that even the sanctioned beds in Kasumpti hospitals are not complete. 25 beds are available in Civil Hospital Junga instead of the sanctioned 50 beds . At the same time, instead of 30 beds, only 10 beds are available in the Community Health Center Mashobra . In Community Health Center Koti, not a single bed is available despite the approval of 30 beds, he said.
Pundir said that there is no facility of 108 ambulance in health block Mashobra. 108 comes from Chail or Kandaghat to pick up the patient in emergency . Whereas in Community Health Center Koti, water trickles in doctor's residence. Director Health and Family Welfare Department Dr. Anita Mahajan and Additional Director Nishant Thakur had a positive discussion with the delegation. They assured them they would fill posts on priority basis.
