TIRUCHY: Residents of Pichandar Koil panchayat have called attention to the sorry state of the Primary Health Care (PHC) centre at Irungalur, which is 12 km away with no direct bus service. The PHC, they say, operates without a proper office, with only one village health nurse instead of three.
"There are around 18,000 people living in this panchayat, but no dedicated PHC," said S Vigneshwaran, an advocate and local activist. "We have been dependent on the Irungalur PHC for 25 years. One had to take a bus to toll gate and another bus to Irungalur, followed by a 2km walk to the PHC."
Vigneshwaran also added, "As per the norms, there should be one village health nurse for every 5,000 people, but our panchayat of 18,000 people has only one nurse to handle everything from first aid to vaccinations. Unlike nearby panchayats, the village health nurse here does not have a permanent office, and she works from an Anganwadi centre at Beerangi medu with no space to store her medicines and other accessories." Suriyapriya P, another resident who had her delivery at the PHC recently, said,
"Since our Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) ID was eligible only at the Irungalur PHC, I had no other option. I had to spend `500 for each trip to the centre during my pregnancy. Even the nearest coffee shop is a long distance away." Said C Mohana, another resident, "There are PHCs in Samayapuram, Sirugampur, Srirangam and Manachanallur, with which our panchayat could have been merged. But any such action is yet to be taken."
Sources from the health department said that Pichandar Koil Panchayat had a lesser population 25 years ago, which was why it was merged with the Irungalur PHC. Deputy Director of Health Subramani, said, ''PHCs are allotted by the union government depending on the population; we have no part to play in it.
However, we have given proposals to create new PHCs for Pichandar Koil, Thiruvellarai, Mathur, Koothaipar, Asur, and a few other panchayats and the government, depending upon need, would allot PHCs. Lack of adequate village nurses and a permanent building is a problem across the state; however we have reported our needs to the government.'' He also added, "If people of a panchayat wishes to merge with a nearby panchayat instead of Irungalur, we can consider it based on the people's willingness."