Health Minister reviews Darrang medical facilities, admits shortage of specialists
He added that govt’s efforts to bring specialists from outside Assam have not borne fruit
Mangaldai, July 26: Assam’s Health Minister Ashok Singhal recently visited the Mangaldai Civil Hospital, the Sipajhar Community Health Centre (CHC) and First Referral Unit (FRU), and the Pathorighat Block Primary Health Centre (BPHC) in Darrang district.
He visited the OPD of Mangaldai Civil Hospital and tried to find loopholes in the service. Earlier, he had visited the Sipajhar CHC and FRU as well as the Pathorighat BPHC, where he interacted with the patients.
Later, talking to the press, Singhal admitted the shortage of specialist doctors in the State’s public health sector due to the limited number of PG seats in the State’s medical colleges. He added that the government’s efforts to bring specialist doctors from outside the State have not borne fruit. However, he ruled out any shortage of doctors with general MBBS degrees.
He expressed confidence in the service of the doctors serving in government hospitals and urged upon the public to show respect to the doctors to earn better quality of service. The minister also assured to resolve public grievances like alleged hesitation of a section of surgeons to carry out gallbladder or appendicitis surgeries at the Mangaldai Civil Hospital.
On the other hand, in response to the questions from the press regarding several flow irrigation projects of the district being non-functional, Singhal, who is also the Irrigation Minister, cited the different natures of the rivers of the region, which change their courses at intervals of five to seven years. He underlined the need for increased practice of mobile irrigation projects based on smaller wetlands, instead of the flowing rivers, as the water source.
Sipajhar MLA Paramananda Rajbongshi, Mangaldai MLA Basanta Das, former Mangaldai MLA Gurujyoti Das, and district commissioner Parag Kumar Kakaty were also present on the occasion, among others.
Udalguri Correspondent adds: Cabinet Minister Ashok Singhal visited the 200-bed Udalguri Civil Hospital and the Dhansiri irrigation project at Bhairabkunda in Udalguri district on Thursday as part of an extensive review of healthcare and irrigation infrastructure.
The minister arrived at the Udalguri Civil Hospital and visited all hospital wards as well as the registration counter, dialysis unit, and maternity ward.
He interacted with the patients and held a detailed review meeting with the civil hospital authority. During the meeting, he discussed challenges faced by the hospital and instructed the departmental authorities to take immediate steps for resolution of these issues. He urged upon all health officials and staff to diligently discharge their responsibilities and maintain efficiency of service.
Later in the afternoon, the minister inspected the Dhansiri irrigation project. A comprehensive discussion was held on the project’s safety mechanisms and various challenges. He directed the chief engineer to prepare an annual maintenance report and gave an order for construction of barricades along the main river, along with repairs to the canal system.
Additionally, he set a seven-day deadline for the district commissioner to coordinate with the forest and irrigation departments to remove the large stones that are obstructing the river Dhansiri.
Among those present at the irrigation site were BTR deputy chief cum local MLA Gobinda Basumatary, chairman of the Assam Fisheries Development Corporation Gurujyoti Das, president of All Bodo Students’ Union Dipen Boro, district commissioner Pulak Patgiri, and several officials from the irrigation department, along with nearly 100 farmers from the surrounding villages.