Budgam: The incomplete work, including no power or water supply and no approach road or fencing, has held up the start of the New Type Primary Health Centre (NTPHC) at Rathsun village in Beerwah tehsil of Budgam district, the building for which began to be constructed in the year 2017. Local patients continue to face difficulties as the village old health centre lacks in many essential facilities.
Ajaz Ahmad Dar, a resident of Rathsun village, told Kashmir Reader that the government sanctioned the health centre for Rathsun village years ago and its construction work started in 2017.
“The construction work of the new building is mostly complete. But there is need of power supply, water supply, development of the main road and wall fencing,” Dar informed.
Dar said that the village health centre is still functioning in the old building where many facilities are not available for patients. “A few days ago I visited the health centre to get a typhoid test done. Due to unavailability of the lab technician, I had to go to the Sub District Hospital Magam,” Dar said.
Muhammad Yousuf, another local resident, complained that the old building also has a space crunch, which was the main reason the government provided funds for a new building. “But due to the incomplete work at the new building, the patients have not had any benefit so far. The villagers are facing the same problems which they faced 20 years ago,” he said.
Yousuf said that local patients prefer to visit the Sub District Hospital Magam for all types of tests and treatment.
“Our village has nearly nine-thousand population. Most of the people here cannot afford the money needed to visit Srinagar-based government hospitals and Sub District Hospitals. The government must understand the difficulties of these poor people and should complete the pending work on immediate basis,” Yousuf said.
Block Medical Officer (BMO) Beerwah, Dr Javaid Ahmad Ganaie told Kashmir Reader that the building has not been handed over to the health department.
“When construction work of the health centre will be fully completed by the agency concerned, this building will be handed over to the health department. We are trying to ensure that the patients get proper treatment and facilities, which is the basic responsibility and duty of the medical staff and doctors,” Dr Ganaie said.

ARIF RASHID