ROURKELA: Primary healthcare eludes at least 4,000 regular and contractual workers of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) along with project-affected families residing in remote and scheduled mining areas of Hemgir block in Sundargarh district.
The workers and their families are forced to travel 50 km to Jindal Hospital in Chhattisgarh or JP Hospital at Rourkela, around 140 km away for treatment of minor ailments and deliveries. Those in need of advanced healthcare are taken to Cuttack or Bhubaneswar which are over 350 km away.
The workers’ woes can be attributed to the fact that the 100-bed Basundhara Hospital of MCL inaugurated on March 5, 2019 by the then Union Tribal Affairs Minister and incumbent Sundargarh MP Jual Oram is no more than a dispensary.
The hospital was started with posting of seven MBBS doctors of which one has left for PG studies, 21 para-medical staff including pharmacists, matrons, technicians for laboratories, X-Ray and ECG machines and 15 support staff for security and cleaning.
Sources said except for a decent building, the hospital has little to show in terms of healthcare as even deliveries cannot be performed at the facility. Patients are given medicines for minor ailments and most of them are referred to other hospitals.
The hospital is meant to provide free treatment to around 1,750 regular and 2,300 contractual workers and their dependents along with thousands of displaced persons of 14 villages and others. But, with necessary treatment facilities not available larger mining affected communities are left in a quandary. While MCL workers and officers get referral slips for availing treatment at any private hospital of their choice, the villagers have no such option.
Mahanadi Coalmines Workers’ Union (MCWU) area secretary Bishwadut Roy said the combined annual production of Basundhara, Garjanbahal and Kulda mines is over 35 million tonne and despite the associated potential risk of accidents, there is no hospital to treat such cases.
“For even fracture injuries patients are taken to other hospitals. Many critical patients lose their lives while being shifted to distant hospitals. MCL has been trying to find a private partner for running its hospital but in vain,” he said.
Sundargarh MLA Kusum Tete said it is unfortunate that the mining affected communities of her constituency are suffering due to lack of healthcare. She demanded the MCL to ensure its hospital has all required facilities and said she would draw the attention of Coal Ministry towards the issue.