Chief minister Tarun Gogoi comes out of the recently inaugurated Maternity and Child Health Care unit at Dhirenpara. The unit has been funded by the European Commission. Picture by Eastern Projections

Feb. 7: The residents of Santipur are upset over the pathetic state of the only government-owned dispensary in the area and in line of fire is the Kamrup (metropolitan) district administration.

The residents complained that there are not enough doctors or facilities at the West Guwahati state dispensary to cater to the needs of the residents of Santipur and the adjoining areas such as Bharalumukh, Bhutnath and Maligaon.

?The deplorable condition of the hospital forces the residents to go to either the Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) at Bhangagarh or the Mohendra Mohan Choudhury (MMC) hospital at Panbazar for treatment,? Mohan Kalita, a resident of Bhutnath, said.

The residents feel that neither the local legislator nor the district administration is concerned about the development of the dispensary, which is the only hope for patients who cannot afford treatment at private nursing homes.

The residents said the district administration had promised to allot a plot of government land near the Brahmaputra to construct a permanent building for the dispensary, but nothing has been done so far. At present, the dispensary is operating from a rented place.

Kamrup (metropolitan) deputy commissioner Samir Sinha said he was not aware of the problem as he had assumed charge only a few days ago.

?But I will definitely look into the matter. I will visit the dispensary to take stock of the situation and, if required, I will move the state government to upgrade its infrastructure,? he promised.

Many localities in the city still do not have access to quality healthcare, increasing the people?s dependence on the GMCH and the MMC.

This increases the pressure of work at these two hospitals, affecting their quality of treatment.

A source said the district administration was aware of the problem and had approached the European Commission for financial assistance to set up four maternity hospitals in the city under the second phase of the commission?s reproductive and child care programme.

The proposal is under consideration of the commission.

The hospitals are proposed to be set up at Noonmati, Jalukbari, Hatigaon and Khanapara as there are no government maternity hospitals in these areas of the city.

?It was proposed that healthcare would be provided at a cheaper rate than private nursing homes at these government hospitals,? the source said.