By Our Reporter
Shillong: The members in the Assembly on Friday gave both thumbs up and thumbs down to the health care system in the State pointing out various lapses and praising some of the positives.
Participating in the discussion on the policy and functioning on the Health and Family Welfare department, James K Sangma (NCP) said that it is sad to see that lots of money goes wasted since the various health equipment purchased by the Government remain unutilized.
“People in Garo Hills still depend on private nursing homes despite the Government having purchased equipment like Ultra Sound and CTI machines. These two costly machines remain unutilized as there are no technicians for operation,” Sangma said.
He further said that these machines have remained unopened for the past so many years.
While referring to the Tura Civil Hospital, he said that the lift in the hospital has not been functioning for the past many years. “It is painful to see patients being carried either on the stretcher or in the arms due to the ‘dead’ lift.
Expressing concern on the State having a high mortality rate, Sangma said that the Government should take urgent steps to bring down the same.
“The Government might be dancing since they have been able to bring down the infant mortality rate from 59 per cent to 55 per cent. But I do not think this is any big achievement. We should try to bring down the infant mortality rate to zero,” the legislator said.
Besides promoting institutional delivery, he also urged the Government to encourage time-tested traditional system of delivery.
Participating in the debate, Manas Chaudhuri gave a pat on the back of the Department for remaining out of controversy on account of corruption.
He pointed out that compared to other states like UP, Meghalaya had done well in rural health sector.
He however highlighted the non-availability of various medicines in Shillong Civil Hospital, saying that it is sad that poor people are being asked to purchase medicines from outside.
As an MLA he had tied with a pharmacy to help the poor who knock his door on a regular basis.
“The government can do the same so that the poor can go to the pharmacy to pick-up the medicines unavailable at the hospital, he said.
He also questioned the rationale of the Government of rejecting the services of pharmacists who passed from outside the State, even though there was a shortage of pharmacists in Meghalaya.
However, while criticizing the Government for the shortage of medicines, Timothy D Shira (NCP) said that during a workshop for the legislators last year, they were made to understand that there are plenty of medicines with the implementation of the National Rural Health Mission.
“During the workshop, the Health and Family Welfare department Commissioner and Secretary DP Wahlang had told the MLAs they don’t need to spend a single paisa to help their people with medicines since the Government has plenty of medicines after the coming of the NRHM. But this is not true since there are still shortage of medicines in various health centres especially in the rural areas,” he said.
Shira also suggested that the Government should have a vehicle in place in Shillong for distribution of medicines to various health centres in Garo Hills.
“At present there is a lot of problem since the vehicle would have to come all the way from Garo Hills to collect the medicines indented for the three districts,” the NCP legislator said.