Sajid Raina
Bandipora, Sep 16: In a yet another example of sheer negligence, a pharmacist in the new type primary health centre (NTPHC) in Zurimanz village of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district is acting as a doctor for years.
Gulzar Ahmad posted as pharmacist in the centre many years back, infact has been treating patients in the absence of a recognised doctor at the NTPHC.
According to sources, a female doctor was posted at the facility 13 years back, however, due to her influence she has never come to this facility to perform her duty.
Sources said that the hospital is NTPHC only on paper and doesn’t have even the facilities of a primary health centre.
“The hospital was running in the local Auqaf building, which was later demolished. After which the hospital is running in a single room which is no less than a cow shed,” they added.
“Although the government had started work on a new building for the hospital years ago it was later abandoned,” locals said.
“Our repeated pleas to the district administration and the health authorities to appoint a doctor at the facility have not yielded any result,” locals said.
According to locals, they too took up the issue and submitted memoranda to the administration, chief medical officer but all their appeals have fallen on deaf ears.
A local resident, Nazeer Ahmad, who accompanied his father to the hospital, said the hospital requires urgent attention.
“The facilities are non-existent and there is an urgent need to upgrade the infrastructure here,” he said.
“We will not be able to tell our story of how much trouble we have to endure here,” Shafeeq a women said, adding that the woman folk suffered the most here.
“No one listens to us to whom we will express our pain,” she said.
Block medical officer Bandipora Dr Masrat Iqbal said that he is in an important meeting with the Tribal Affairs Minister that has visited the district today.
Despite repeated attempts, CMO Bandipora, Bashir Ahmad didn’t answer to the calls.
