No radiographer in Jawali hospital for 3 years, X-ray machine lies idle

Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur, October 31

A digital X-ray machine donated by a philanthropist has been lying idle at the 50-bed Civil Hospital in Jawali, home constituency of Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar, due to the non-availability of a radiographer. This forces patients to approach private laboratories for diagnostic tests at high costs.

The situation has triggered resentment among local residents, who say the decision if the state government to declare the facility a ‘Model Health Institution’ earlier this year rings hollow. The initiative was meant to upgrade healthcare infrastructure and provide high-quality, comprehensive medical care at the community level.

The Civil Hospital caters to the medical needs of over 1.5 lakh people in the Jawali Assembly constituency of Kangra district but the state Health Department is yet to post a radiographer there. The hospital at present has a surgeon, gynaecologist and an ophthalmologist but the lack of equipment and the necessary staff has effectively turned it into a referral centre.

About 400 patients visit the outpatient department (OPD) everyday in the hope of improved services. However, the inadequate infrastructure continues to hinder quality healthcare delivery.

If this was not enough, an oxygen generation plant worth Rs 1.5 crore, sanctioned under the PM CARES Fund in 2022, has remained non-functional due to the Health Department’s failure to arrange the required power supply. The delay has cast doubts on the claim of the government of developing the Jawali hospital as a model facility.

Health Minister Dhani Ram Shandil, during a visit in December last year, had assured local residents that the oxygen plant would be made operational but no progress had been made since then.

Former BJP candidate for the Assembly elections Sanjay Guleria and former councillor Ravi Kumar also criticised the state government for neglecting the region’s healthcare needs. “Local MLA and Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar has not been able to provide necessary facilities and staff under the Model Health Institution scheme at the hospital in his own constituency,” they alleged.

Senior Medical Officer Dr Irshan Mohammad said that the oxygen plant had been handed over to Krisnaa Diagnostic Lab in line with the Health Department’s guidelines and patients would soon start getting benefit once it becomes operational. “An estimate of Rs 34 lakh has been submitted for the installation of an electricity transformer to make the plant functional but funds are yet to be sanctioned for the purpose,” he added.