NABARD-funded health centre in Losedenow not built even after 6 yrs

NABARD-funded health centre in Losedenow not built even after 6 yrs

Shopian: Six years and counting, the new type primary health centre (NTPHC) in Shopian’s Losedenow, which was to cater to health care facilities for more than two dozen villages, is still incomplete due to absence of funds which the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NBARD) has to provide.
This NBARD-funded project was initiated in 2015-16 with the Jammu and Kashmir Housing Board as construction agency.
Sayar Ahmad, a resident of Losedenow, told Kashmir Reader that people in the area have to visit private clinics or travel to distant government hospitals and wait there in long queues for their turn. “As there is no government-run health centre in the area, we are forced to get treatment from private hospitals and clinics where hundreds of rupees are being charged only for consultation,” he said, and demanded speedy completion of the hospital building in his village.
Another villager from the area said that despite people of the area coming out to vote in large numbers in elections, they are still being neglected on all fronts.
Inam ullah Wani, another villager, said that the project was being neglected deliberately to force the people to go to private hospitals and clinics. “There is no health care facility within a radius of 12 kilometers, except at the district headquarters which also lacks most of the basic facilities,” he said.
Wani said that the lieutenant governor’s administration should look into the matter so that dozens of villages get much-needed health care facilities.
Locals said that a roof-less portion of the under-construction building was decaying due to snow and freezing temperatures in winters, which have also damaged the plaster on its walls.
Chief Medical Officer Shopian, Dr Ramesh, told Kashmir Reader that the NTPHC was being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 1.75 crore by the Jammu and Kashmir Housing Board. “It was started in 2015-16 but due to lack of funds it was not completed in time,” he said.
Another official posted in the planning section of the health department told Kashmir Reader that the housing board has no office in the district, due to which their requests were not being answered. “There is also cost escalation, about which we wrote to the government. We are hopeful this hospital will be made functional by summers this year,” he said.

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