Editor,
I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the deteriorating conditions at NEIGRIHMS (North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences) and the Civil Hospital. Recent incidents have shed light on alarming issues that demand immediate attention from the concerned authorities.
It is disheartening to note that a prestigious institution like NEIGRIHMS lacked a doctor to attend to an accident victim in a recent incident. This highlights a grave lapse in the hospital’s operational protocols and monitoring mechanisms. Patients, in many instances, are left waiting for weeks to undergo tests that have been prescribed by their doctors. The chaos surrounding the issuance of OPD tickets only exacerbates the situation, causing unnecessary distress to patients.
A glaring concern is the unavailability of senior doctors at the hospital, leaving junior doctors to shoulder overwhelming responsibilities. This imbalance compromises the overall quality of care provided. It is high time that the hospital administration takes serious measures to address these shortcomings and update their rules and regulations.
In order to rectify these issues, I strongly urge NEIGRIHMS to consider the following reforms:
Expertise in OPD Section: The hospital should prioritize providing expert doctors to handle the OPD section, ensuring patients receive specialized care right from the initial consultation.
Recruitment of Experienced Doctors: Hiring experienced and expert doctors is crucial to enhance the quality of medical services and provide patients with the level of care they deserve.
Timely Testing and Medication: The hospital must streamline its processes to ensure timely testing and prompt provision of medications. Patients’ time should not be wasted, and efficient healthcare services should be a priority.
Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana: The hospital should ensure that patients receive the full benefit of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, including adequate medication provision, without unnecessary financial burden on patients.
Similar concerns extend to the Civil Hospital, which frequently refers cases to NEIGRIHMS. The dedication and professionalism of doctors and nurses need to be reinforced, and punctuality should be strictly enforced.
It is imperative that these issues are addressed promptly to ensure the highest quality of healthcare services for the people who depend on these institutions. I call upon the hospital administration and relevant authorities to take swift action, rectify the existing shortcomings, and restore public faith in these essential healthcare institutions.
Yours etc.,
Name withheld on request,
Via email
Making life miserable for residents of Police Bazar
Editor,
This letter is meant to draw attention to the inconvenience faced by the residents of Police Bazar because of hawkers. The hawkers have blocked the entrance of the passage to our residence. Anyone who has to visit us has to stand for minutes requesting them to vacate the passage to the house. The customers who visit them crowd the doors to our residence. This is terribly annoying, so much so that tutors and domestic helpers sometimes don’t want to wait and go away without entering the house. Not only this they eat, drink tea and spit right in front of the entrance leaving all the packets and glasses for us to clean when they go away late in the evening. When asked not to dirty the entrance or to vacate the passage, they shout back in their local (Khasi) language trying to frighten us using words like KSU, dkhar etc. They rub lime on the walls outside the gate, kick the door in anger behind us and make fun of us every time we enter or exit our own house. This is causing a lot of mental stress for us residents every single day.
Is this a civilised society we are living in? Why are we deprived of our right to live in a clean and hassle- free environment? Every morning and evening we have to argue with the hawkers to clear the passage to our homes. Naturally this is stressful and causes irreparable damage to our mental state while disrupting our daily routine.
We request the concerned authorities to look into this matter and take the necessary steps to relieve our grievances. There have to be specific rules for hawkers to set up their stalls in a way that the entrances to all the residences are kept clean and free for easy movement of the residents.
Yours etc.,
Neesha Jhunjhunwala,
Via email
SMB & PHED stop supplying muddy water!
Editor,
There is a continuous disgruntled murmur in the town against PHED and the Shillong Municipality. The reason is because they do not supply clean water to the public. Residents have been getting muddy and untreated water regularly. At times it is sticky and oily. This is completely uncalled for and it violates the ethics of governance that the very departments entrusted with ensuring access to “safe and clean” water have been callously disregarding their responsibility.
Do these two departments know that the majority of urban population is considerably poor and cannot afford water filters, let alone the expensive Aqua Guard filter machine? Frankly speaking, even Aqua Guard machines are unable to filter the muddy water that runs through PHED and Shillong Municipality pipes. The dirty causes the filters to rapidly deteriorate. Should the officers in the departments not empathize with the plight of the poor people who cannot even boil water with the steep rise in the cost of cooking gas? Yes, some people who can “afford” have started buying 20-litre bottled water for drinking purposes. But each time they go to buy bottled water from vendors, they curse PHED and the Shillong Municipality.
A lady who sells second hand clothes and others like her say that they have to use the process of sedimentation of water before using it for cooking or drinking purposes since they don’t have water filters. What is a worrying factor is that many households do not have many buckets for sedimentation purposes. Many feel that it is a heinous crime to supply polluted water to the public.
Is it not ironic that in this advanced age of technology, people are forced to live like in the primitive ages? Dear SMB and PHED, please note an iPhone in one hand and a glass of polluted water in the other do not go together. Wake up, pull up your socks, and discharge your duties with sincerity.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong