ROURKELA/JAJPUR:In response to a call given by Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee, party leaders and workers staged demonstrations in front of all Primary and Community Health Centres (PHCs and CHCs) across the State on Monday protesting the deteriorating health services.
In Rourkela, Congress staged a demonstration in front of Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) against neglect to Rourkela city on healthcare front and announced to protest the visit of Health and Family Welfare Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak.
At the protest meeting, presided over by Rourkela District Congress Committee (DCC) president Biren Senapati, leaders claimed that while the demand to raise RGH's bed strength to 300 from the present 128 never found approval of State Government, 24 posts of doctors are lying vacant with huge vacancies in posts of para-medical staff.
Free drug distribution through Niramaya scheme has turned into a farce, while health insurance cards of poor patients are not getting renewed at RGH. There has been no progress in setting up 10 urban health centres in the city, while the newly-constructed trauma centre at RGH is non-operational and construction of Mother and Child Hospital never seem to end.
They demanded immediate takeover of the virtually defunct private sector Hi-Tech Medical College and Hospital and merge it with RGH, fill up all vacant posts, set up a police outpost at RGH campus and improve quality of food and sanitation service of RGH through transparent bidding.
Among others, former MLA Pravat Mohapatra and Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee secretaries Sabir Hussain, Ganesh Pradhan and Rabi Rai were present. Later, the protestors marched in a procession and sent a memorandum to Governor through the Rourkela ADM.
At Jajpur, DCC president Manoj Kumar Rout led the agitation to the DHH while Hrudananda Rout led the stir at Jajpur Road area hospital. Similar protests were staged at CHCs under Binjharpur, Barachana, Korei, Dharmasala, Markanpur, Danagadi and Sukinda blocks.
“Deteriorating health services and shortage of doctors have exposed the poor health scenario of the State in cases like Dana Majhi, Nagada malnutrition deaths, malaria in Koraput, cholera in several backward areas of the State,” said Manoj.