The New Indian Express, Sept 7, 2012
By Uma Shankar Kar - BHAWANIPATNA
07th September 2012 11:54 AM
It is eight years since the MoU for a medical college and hospital at Jaring here was signed. The project, however, is yet to take off. While the hospital functions with skeleton staff, there is no sign of the medical college.
On April 1, 2004, the MoU was signed between Selvam Educational and Charitable Trust, Tamil Nadu, and Western Orissa Development Council (WODC).
After prolonged public agitation the construction started. For the Rs 100-crore project, it was agreed that WODC would contribute Rs 10 crore in eight instalments on the basis of progress of the work and the State Government would provide 25 acres of land on lease. The Selvam Trust constructed a building for the medical college and Hospital, hostels for students and other structures. However, the project has run into problems.
The medical college and hospital has to be a 300-bed one, well equipped with medical staff and departments to get Medical Council of India (MCI) recognition. Though the present facility has 100-bed hospital, it lacks medical staff in most of the departments and other facilities. Although the MCI visited the site twice last year and once this year, it did not give approval as the project lacked infrastructure and staff.
At present, the hospital has just six doctors including three specialists in Medicine, Pathology and Ophthalmology. The trust had earlier declared that admissions would begin for 2008 academic year. Even then, members of MCI had expressed unhappiness over the number of doctors and other facilities in the hospital.
Protesting the sorry state of affairs, locals recently demonstrated in front of the medical college and hospital demanding immediate functioning of the hospital to its full capacity. They demanded immediate posting of the specialists in the departments of surgery, medicine, gynaecology, orthopaedics, anaesthesia, and other doctors and supporting staff. They submitted a memorandum, addressed to the Chief Minister, to the local tehsildar over the issue. They demanded government intervention in making the hospital operational for providing quality healthcare to locals.
They threatened mass agitation if their demand is not met by November first week.
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