MANGSANG, June 5: A visit to the Public Health Centre (PHC) in Mangsang village of East Garo Hills has revealed the grim reality of a crumbling healthcare infrastructure in some of the region’s most remote areas.
Established in 1995 during the tenure of then chief minister (L) SC Marak, the PHC has since languished in neglect. Currently, it is run by just one doctor assisted by an AYUSH practitioner.
The facility includes a main building and five staff quarters—all of which are on the verge of collapse.
The deteriorating state of the PHC was recently highlighted by members of the Garo Students’ Union (GSU) and the Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP), who visited the facility only to be appalled by its condition.
Albeit minor repairs have been made over time, no proper attention has been paid to the infrastructure, which now poses a danger to anyone simply entering the premises.
“We have spoken to the PHC employees and are literally angry at the state in which the infrastructure is presently. For a hospital that caters to a huge population across both East Garo Hills (EGH) and West Khasi Hills (WKH), we are surprised that no repairs have been made at all since it opened to the public,” he added.
Mangsang, one of the remotest parts of EGH, lies around 35 km from Rongjeng and over 75 km from the district headquarters in Williamnagar. The PHC serves nearly 20,000 residents across the two districts.
During their visit, the GSU team found plaster peeling off walls, medical rooms overtaken by fungus and moss, and moist interiors that gave the hospital the feel of a morgue rather than a healthcare facility. However, the worst was yet to come.
“There are five quarters for the various staff of the PHC and none of these rooms were actually habitable. The entire structure was leaking and the rains compounded the problems faced by those that occupied these quarters,” said FKJGP secretary, Lukus Sangma.
The CSO members witnessed water pouring through ceilings, with staff placing vessels and buckets to collect the leaks in an attempt to protect their living spaces.
“The staff of the PHC, when it rains, have no way of sleeping as they have to continually empty out the buckets and vessels or the entire room will flood. The entire floor was under water when we reached the place.
Is this how healthcare workers need to be treated?,” they asked.
They also reported that both the male and female wards were in equally deplorable condition.
“The rooms in the wards are in a similar state and patients, especially those admitted, pray it does not rain or they will be in for a complete nightmare. It is a sight to see! There are buckets everywhere and patients are continually shifting their beds in an effort to avoid the rains inside the rooms. The corridor shares a similar fate. Even the doctor’s chamber is leaking,” stated Lukus.
Upon being informed of the situation, Principal Secretary Sampath Kumar assured that the matter would be reviewed and necessary improvements would be undertaken shortly.
The present state of the Mangsang PHC tells a distressing tale of neglect and raises serious questions about the state of rural healthcare in Meghalaya. With health services being critical to public welfare, concerns remain as to why such essential infrastructure has been allowed to deteriorate—and why the professionals meant to serve the people are forced to work and live under such unacceptable conditions.
