Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Tuesday took strong exception to the government’s decision of housing forces personnel at MMC Hospital Noorbagh, saying the measure will impact the health care available to the local populace.
Expressing concern over the decision of J&K administration to forces personnel at the sole mother and child care facility in Noorbagh locality of Srinagar, Senior party leader and Former Assembly Speaker Mubarak Gul said that the imprudent measure will wean off the local population from near-to-home and affordable healthcare facility.
He said the concerned hospital has been at the center of the efforts to curb the progression of Covid-19 as well. Decrying the decision of the administration, he said, “Reportedly forces have been rushed into the hospital and the entire building has been cleared of the medicines and other gadgets it housed. The closure will have far-reaching implications for the local population’s access to affordable health care. One cannot imagine the broader community effects of this closure at this critical juncture, when the efforts are underway to curb the Covid spread. This medical facility has been at the center of efforts aimed to curb the covid spread in the entire locality.”
Closing the facility, Gul maintained, will jeopardize the mother and childcare, Covid vaccination programme and next-to-door affordable medication to thousands of people in its catchment area. “Where is the local population supposed to go? Most of the people in the locality live by hand to mouth and cannot afford high rates of Medicare at private hospitals, which also are miles away. Such an imprudent step is unheard of in any other part of the country. Where do we get to see operational hospitals being converted into Forces and Paramilitary camps? The absence of acute care, immunization as a result of the closure of the facility will also have an impact on the wellbeing of the infants and expecting mothers in the neighborhood,” he said.
Cautioning the administration against the closure of the health facility, he said that if the hospital facility is not vacated from the forces, he will go on an indefinite hunger strike. “If the decision is not revoked within two days, I will go on an indefinite strike. It will be the last resort for me to draw the attention of the LG administration to the sheer injustice being meted out to the people of Noorbagh. The forces can be camped at any other site. There is no dearth of alternative places. Closing an operational hospital for accommodating forces is out-landish. Therefore, I urge LG to look into the matter and ensure that the huge population of city outskirts at Noorbagh isn’t weaned off from affordable medical care,” he said.
