Kulgam, Nov 15: The Primary Health Centre (PHC) here lacks proper space and infrastructure despite having to cater to the medical needs of heavily populated village Devsar.
Residents of Devsar village said that the work on the construction of new building for the PHC started in 2009 but it is yet to be completed as the old wooden building of PHC, constructed in 1980’s, is not sufficient enough to accommodate the patients.
“The PHC has thirty staff members and only 11 rooms among which one room has been constructed by staff members as a temporary shed for treating causality cases,” they added.
One of the residents of Devsar, Bilal Ahmad, said: “The PHC here serves no purpose as even for a minor X-Ray the patients have to visit District Hospital (DH) in Kulgam.”
“The village has 1200 households and only proper accommodation at the PHC can ensure its real purpose,” he added.
Another resident Farooq Ahmad said that almost 9 years have already passed but the newly constructed building is yet to be made functional due to government apathy. “The building has been occupied by government forces who have been deployed here for Panchayat election duty,” he added.
One of the staff members at PHC Devsar told Kashmir Images that there is lack of accommodation at the PHC; however he said that medical facilities are available here. “There are no separate rooms for X-Ray machines, dental equipments, night staff, kitchen and the problem can be only solved once the new building is made functional,” he added.
When contacted Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Kulgam said: “We have already raised the matter with concerned officials of Police Housing Corporation (PHC) as the department has failed to complete the construction work on new building of PHC Devsar.”
“They have informed us that due to lack of funds, no further construction can be done,” he added.
