BUDGAM: Despite the government having spent Rs 2 crore on construction of the Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Pethzanigam village in Khansahib tehsil, this PHC has not started functioning as the two landowners who provided their land are demanding employment for their wards in government jobs.
Residents of Pethzanigam village told Kashmir Reader that the government started construction work of the PHC in the year 2005 and the work was completed in the year 2017.
“The government has spent nearly 2 crore rupees on the construction of the PHC in the village. Presently the PHC is running from a rented building in the village. The two landowners who provided their land for the PHC are demanding compensation and employment for their children, which is why it has not started yet in the village,” a local said.
Gulzar Ahmad Malik, the son of one of the landowners, said that his father and uncle provided three kanals of land for the PHC. “When the PHC was allotted to the village, it was promised to us that the health department will provide compensation as well as employment to both my family as well as my uncle’s family,” Malik said.
“The construction work of the PHC has been fully completed on our land but our demands have not been fulfilled yet by the health department,” he said.
“We are ready if the health department will provide the compensation and employment to both the families as per the promise which the government made to us,” Malik said.
He added that the land which they gave to the government is situated on the main road. “We are farmers by profession and this land was the lone source of income for both the families,” he said.
Sub District Magistrate of Khansahib, Syed Ahmad Kataria, told Kashmir Reader that the PHC building has already been fully constructed.
“We will also check the status of the PHC of Pethzanigam, why it has not been handed over to the health department,” he said.

ARIF RASHID