SHILLONG, April 27: The state government on Wednesday told the High Court of Meghalaya that Rs 45 crore out of a loan of about Rs 370 crore obtained for the development of healthcare infrastructure has been already allocated for the construction, renovation and extension of the existing physical infrastructure.
Earlier, the court had taken suo motu cognisance of the deficiencies in health services in the state.
The Advocate General (AG) submitted that in addition to the commitment of allocating 8% of the annual budget towards healthcare, the administration has taken measures to augment the facilities.
Further, the AG submitted that against the national guidelines based on the population, Meghalaya has 115 primary healthcare centres against the requirement of 107 of such centres.
The state has 28 community health centres against the requirement of 27. However, it is well short of the required number of health sub-centres. It has 459 sub-centres against the requirement of 1,067. The government proposed to add 300 others in the next four years.
According to the state’s assessment, one sub-centre should be in place to cater to 3,000 citizens and the calculations are based on the present and immediate projected population of the state.
It was also submitted that in addition to the cancer wing set up at the Civil Hospital in Shillong recently, steps are being taken to acquire sophisticated equipment with funds to the extent of about Rs 8.36 crore available pursuant to another order of the court.
Further, funds are being infused for proper development of the cancer centres and the state has consulted specialists in such area for the super specialty wing to be further developed.
The state reported that at present there are no medical colleges in Meghalaya and the only one available is at NEIGRIHMS. The state proposed to start at least two medical colleges, one in and around Shillong and the other near Tura. The Tura construction has been completed up to 30% and steps are being taken to expedite the work. As regards the one in Shillong, the state submitted that it initially proposed to set up a medical college with approximately 15 acres of land in the upcoming New Shillong Township.
“However, the matter is being reconsidered and it is hoped that a decision will be arrived at soon so that the medical college becomes a reality over the next three or four years,” the order said.
Appearing in person, SP Mahanta pointed out that a meeting of the high-powered committee was held and among the other matters discussed, it was highlighted that the expenses incurred at the private hospitals need to be monitored by the state.
The court suggested that the state can explore the feasibility of setting up a medical regulatory commission, on the lines similar to such bodies in other states which would go into the complaints against the private hospitals and may also regulate the charges for all items at private medical hospitals.
“It is common knowledge that because of the lack of beds in government hospitals, many patients are driven to private hospitals and the expensive treatment there sometimes brings more misery than the ailments that were sought to be treated. The state should be mindful of such problems faced by the citizens and take appropriate measures,” the court said.
It was submitted by the AG that a state health policy has been adopted and it is being improved upon so that a roadmap is charted out of how best to augment the existing facilities and ensure that at a given point of time in the not-so-distant future, adequate facilities would be available so that citizens do not have to look to or go elsewhere for treatment.
“Let the matter now appear six weeks hence for the state to indicate in somewhat greater detail than now as to its long-term and short-term plans in healthcare, including the augmentation of all facilities,” the court said.
