Residents demand its shifting a vacant Govt building
Abrar A. Mattoo
BARAMULLA, Oct 5: Following the publication of list by district administration wherein the names of the vacant government buildings were made public, the residents of the Hygam village in Baramulla district have demanded to shift the Primary Health Centre, which currently functions out of a small shop, to a government school building which is lying vacant in the village.
The shop that the health center is functioning in is rented from a local resident and has neither an assigned doctor nor an ambulance. The three paramedics are serving the pregnant ladies only, and even services for them are inadequately available.
“We request the district administration to convert the school into a Public Health Centre. The school building can accommodate lots of equipment and can become a full-fledged Health Centre. Our current health Centre does not provide any adequate health care to the local populace,” Syed Tanveer, a social activist from the village said while speaking with Kashmir Despatch.
The residents of the village further say that the empty school building has become a drug den and it’s imperative that the administration adheres to our demands. The village has a population of nearly fifty-thousand, and the nearest availability of proper health care is at district hospital Baramulla, which is some fourteen kilometers away.
“The current PHC is located at the market, and since it caters to the pregnant ladies only, the visits are often awkward for the women. It would have been much better if the Centre was in a quiet place where women could visit without any uneasiness or discomfort. Therefore, shifting the PHC to the school building is in the best public interest,” the village Sarpanch said while speaking with Kashmir Despatch.
