Madhya Pradesh: Meghnagar medical camp proves to be a damp squib

Madhya Pradesh: Meghnagar medical camp proves to be a damp squib

The health camp which was conducted under the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav program turned out to be a mere formality even after the government spent a huge sum on the camp.

FP News ServiceUpdated: Thursday, April 21, 2022, 09:11 PM IST
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Meghnagar (Madhya Pradesh): A free medical camp is a programme that aims to provide medical and surgical services to poor communities living in rural or urban areas by a mobile team with a number of specialised medical services.

However, the health camp which was conducted under the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav programme turned out to be a mere formality even after the government spent a huge sum on the camp.

Many locals who visited the camp anticipating some advice from health experts returned empty-handed. Besides, many of the villagers who went to get their Ayushman cards left dejected as operators who were present at the stalls failed to prepare the cards as they were facing server problems.

In the beginning, district collector Somesh Mishra, local MLA Vir Singh Bhuria and BJP district president Laxman Singh Nayak inaugurated the camp. During the inauguration, the collector appealed to the people to get their Ayushman cards made. The administration had also set up stalls at the Meghnagar health fair for making health cards including Ayushman and Aadhar updations, but the vendors were unable to make the Ayushman card even for a single person here.

Just a waste of money?

Many villagers appreciated the state government for the noble cause but also raised a question about the amount spent on every health camp.

Amit Patidar, a native of Meghnagar village told that government spends a huge amount of money on each health camp organised at every block level.

"Though the objective of state government is sacred, it is a temporary solution. Instead of this, the government must focus on providing a permanent solution."

Quoting an example of a defunct X-ray machine at the Meghnagar Community Health Centre, Patidar told that this X-ray machine often faces technical glitches, due to which patients have to get their X-rays done at private hospitals. For the last 10 years, the demand for a new machine has been made to collectors, MLAs, ministers in charge, and other big leaders, but all went in vain. If the government had used the money it spent on organising the health camp for just 5-6 hours, for the purchase of a digital X-Ray machine or for some permanent work, then perhaps the Amrit Mahotsav of Azadi would have been successful here, he said.

Only blood tests being done in the name of investigation

Mahesh Rajput, another villager said, only blood tests are being done in the name of treatment of most of the diseases. Patients who reached the specialist doctors in the camps organised in Ranapur on Monday and Meghnagar on Tuesday said that they were only made to undergo blood tests and given regular medicines including multi-vitamins for their disease. In these camps, specialist doctors did not bring any equipment with them. For example, sonography is important for diseases related to pregnant women, but this machine was not available in any camp.

There was no X-ray facility for orthopaedics. Only the reports of the tests which are routinely done at the community health centres were made available to the patients, the rest were sent to the district hospital and the report came the next day. The patient was called to the district hospital after the report came so that further treatment could be done. In such a situation, the question arises as to why the patients of rural areas were called to the health fair organised at the block level without facilities, Rajpur added.

Doctors' disappearing act

The timing of the camp was from 10 am to 4 pm but the camp actually started about one to one-and-a-half hours later as this time was wasted on inauguration and speeches by various leaders. Once the leaders and officials left the camp, there was a mad rush at the registration counter and thereafter the pathology counters. Many villagers claimed that doctors at most of the counters disappeared after lunch.

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