Villagers see a ray of hope in mohalla clinics

Lovleen Bains

Doraha/Sahnewal, Jan 27

Villagers expressed satisfaction and hope over the opening of mohalla clinics at the Katani Kalan village in Sahnewal and Rampur village in Doraha today.

Vajid of Rampur village said: “We are pleased to have a mohalla clinic in our village. Earlier, the Rampur PHC, which has been renovated and made a mohalla clinic, served no medical needs at all. It was in a dilapidated situation and a few doctors were available at the facility. The poor were left to the mercy of private doctors and had to shell out thousands in the form of medical expenses.”

“With the renovation and added medical staff and infrastructure, we feel that our pleas have finally been heard by the government. There is a ray of hope that doctors will come to the place and attend patients. Though their work will be judged with the passage of time, a step forward has definitely been taken by the state government for the people,” Harjeet Singh of the same village said.

“Earlier, there was a severe staff crunch due to which we had to wait for long hours or return dissatisfied from the health centre. But now we are being told that with the opening of the mohalla clinic, doctors shall be available on a routine basis. If this happens in letter and in spirit, it will definitely be a relief for us,” said another villager.

At Katani Kalan in Sahnewal, where a similar mohalla clinic has been opened today, the reactions were similar.

“Residents had no provision of medical facilities as the dispensary had fewer staff and lacked basic medical infrastructure. We were left with no other option but to get ourselves treated from private doctors at Samrala. Now with the upgrading of the dispensary into a mohalla clinic, we feel that we won’t have to suffer as before,” Gagan of Katani Kalan village said.