Srinagar: The government’s decision to operationalise the 500 bed Maternity cum Paediatric hospital at Bemina has come under sharp criticism from medico bodies.

The move has faced criticism as experts see it yet another additional creation of infrastructure in the capital city which is in no way going to enhance the healthcare scenario in the state.

“There is a dearth of paediatric and maternity care facilities in peripheries, where as in Srinagar there are already three institutions functioning which are meant for the paediatric and maternity care. JVC Bemina, SKIMS and GB Panth, are the three major centres functioning in Srinagar while as in peripheries no such healthcare facility is running across Kashmir Division,” said Dr. Suhail Naik, President DAK.

“Instead of centralizing the healthcare facilities in Srinagar, the government should have thought of creating a 200 bedded Maternity cum Paediatric hospital one in north and one in south,” Dr. Naik said.

Pertinently, government spokesperson on Tuesday in a statement said that Minister for Public Works, Naeem Akhtar while visiting the development works in Srinagar was informed that the 500-bed Maternity-cum-Paediatric Hospital at Bemina is to be made functional this year.

The Minister, the statement said, visited Bemina where 500 bedded Maternity and Pediatric hospital is being constructed. “The minister was informed that major portion of the construction work stands completed. The mechanical and electrical work on the hospital has also started and will be completed in a time-bound manner. The Minister asked the executing agency to expedite work and said that the Government would start the functioning of the hospital from this year.”

Pertinently, the hospital was constructed at the cost of whooping Rs 70.63 crore, which the DAK said is the wastage of money by implementing, what it called as “vision-less plan.”

DAK President said that the population residing in Srinagar is getting enough facilities but people living in peripheries are suffering.

“The creation of such an infrastructure seems not to relieving people of peripheries of their sufferings,” he said.

“Lots of lives are lost when the patients are referred to Srinagar due to referrals most of the patients lose their lives, and that’s is because of the absence of required facilities in peripheries, it was best to come up with small such facilities in the peripheries, rather than amassing it all in the capital, ” he added.

Stating, that even after spending more than 70 crore rupees for the creation of such a facility, the DAK President said that it is not going to bring any improvement in maternity and paediatric health care in Kashmir Division.

Experts are saying that the government is completely lacking a ‘sense of vision’ in terms of decentralizing the healthcare infrastructure in order to cater to the needs of the huge population residing in peripheries.

“The government is vision-less and knows nothing about creation of facilities in the peripheries,” a doctor said.

Guest