SARDARPUR (DHAR DISTRICT): Amid rise in corona cases in tribal areas, health services in Sardarpur tehsil of Dhar are on the verge of collapse owing to non-availability of doctors at outdoor patient department (OPD) of Sardarpur Community Health Centre (CHC) and administration’s apathy towards villagers grievances.
Approximately, half of Sardarpur tehsil’s population is infected by viral fever. Hospitals are full of patients. Villagers are forced to spend night under open sky outside hospital waiting for their turn at OPD of government CHC.
The situation is so bad that people queue up in front of the hospital even before sunrise and can be seen waiting for treatment till midnight. Adding insult to agony, no doctor is available at OPD to take care of patients. In absence of health facilities, quacks and other paramedics are minting money in rural areas.
Government hospital at Sardarpur tehsil caters to residents of more than 103 villages. With a majority of population suffering from viral fever this time, they have no option but to visit this government hospital at tehsil headquarters.
On Saturday at 10.22 pm, Free Press correspondent visited Sardarpur Government Hospital to ascertain the situation. He found villagers suffering from fever sleeping outside the OPD waiting for their turn the next morning. There was no doctor in the OPD.
Patient getting treatment in a car outside Sardarpur CHC on Sunday. | FPNS
When inquired about the doctors, it was found that BMO Sheela Mujalda and Dr ML Jain had gone to Mohankheda situated Covid Care Centre. People said that no one at the hospital was willing to answer as to when the doctor would come to hospital. Villagers said that instead of going home, they decided to wait outside the hospital hoping for medical treatment the next day.
As all beds are occupied, patients are being administered drip either outside the hospital or in the four-wheeler in which they had reached the hospital.
Attempts to contact block medical officer Sheela Mujalda failed after repeated attempts as she neither picked the phone nor replied to messages.
When Free Press contacted Dhar district chief medical and health officer Jitendra Choudhary and raised absence of duty doctors at the hospital, he accepted that it was unacceptable and promised to look into the matter.
Choudhary said that enough doctors were deployed at the government hospital and would call chief block medical officer (CBMO) to know the reason about absence of doctor on night duty from the hospital. He promised to initiate strict action if the doctor on duty failed to explain his absence.
On drip being administered to patient in car at government hospital premises, Choudhary said that enough space and facility was available at Sardarpur Community Health Centre. Hence he would also inquire as to why drip had to be administered to a patient in car.
