SHILLONG: The COVID pandemic has exposed the deplorable state of rural health infrastructure, compelling the state government to wake up to the task of urgent corrective measures.
As the first decisive step in that direction, the government has decided to invest Rs 75 crore for renovation of 186 PHCs & CHCs some of which have not been renovated for over 25 years.
The decision was taken during a meeting of the Health department here on Wednesday.
Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma however claimed that the government had decided to invest more in the health infrastructure even before the COVID situation came up.
Sangma said not even a single rupee had been spent on many of the PHCs and CHCs of the state for many years thereby leaving the health centres in a state of disrepair. The amount would be spent on improving overall structure and renovation of the CHCs/ PHCs including power, water supply and refurbishment of the staff quarters.
The process is expected to start within a month while the Health department has been asked to submit details of the plan so that work could be completed within this financial year.
In the second phase of the project, the government intends to focus on improving sub-centres, besides the civil hospitals located in different districts of the state.
“At the same time, we will also work towards manpower requirements in different locations,” Sangma said.
He also said that the government intends to implement strong system under which doctors will not be over-burdened with reporting system and they would be able to focus on healthcare system.
