In Jwalamukhi, hospital makes way for mini-secretariat

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, February 19

People in Jwalamukhi are perplexed at the way development was being carried out in their area. In Jwalamukhi a hospital building using National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) funds has been demolished to create building of a new mini secretariat.

The hospital has been shifted to the building of Yatri Niwas that was brought up by a charitable trust based in Delhi. The building of Yatri Niwas has been dismantled and remodelled for creating accommodation for hospital. To add to it, another new building of Yatri Niwas has been created.

Varjinder Singh, a resident of Jwalamukhi, said that the hospital was located just close to the bus stand. The building was specially created as per the specifications of a hospital. The people wanted the hospital to be near the bus stand so that it was easy to approach. However, now the hospital building has been altered for creating a new mini secretariat. The hospital has been shifted to a building located about two km from the bus stand. It had now become difficult for the people coming from rural area to reach the hospital.

A visit to the area revealed that the hospital of Jawalamukhi had been shifted to the old Yatri Niwas building. The Yatri Niwas building was brought up by Katayayani Shakti Peeth Delhi and inaugurated by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. The Yatri Niwas building was suited for an inn.

However, now it houses a hospital. Now efforts are being made to remodel the building as per the requirements of a hospital. The Chief Minister last week inaugurated the old building that is supposed to house a 100-bed hospital. Since the building was not designed for the hospital dingy conditions prevailed and stop-gap arrangements had been made to run the hospital.

A government official, while speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that whatever had been done in Jwalamukhi is perfect example of how things were progressing as per whims. Had the administration created just one new building for housing the mini secretariat, the old hospital and Yatri Niwas buildings could have been saved.

He also questioned the logic of bringing up a mini secretariat building in the heart of Jwalamukhi town in place of hospital. The old hospital building had residential facilities for the doctors also. Now new buildings are being created near Yatri Niwas, now converted into hospital, for residence of hospital doctors. It was a sheer wastage of public money, he said.

The Jwalamukhi Assembly constituency is represented by Sanjay Rattan, the Congress MLA, a favourite of the Chief Minister. The area had been receiving development projects due to the benevolence of the Chief Minister. During the stint of the present Congress government, the Jwalamukhi Assembly constituency got three government colleges, office of the SDM despite the fact that old Dehra sub division was located at a distance of just 10 km from Jwalamukhi and a 100-bed hospital.