Same story: An inundated healthcare centre in Sonitpur district

Oct. 9: Healthcare? What healthcare?

Formed after the Bodoland Territorial Council came into being, this district of three lakh people still has less than five per cent of the trained staff required for government-run public healthcare centres. It is not surprising, therefore, that casualties are high every time there is an outbreak of disease in the hinterland.

“The state of healthcare in the remote areas of Bijni subdivision is a matter of great concern. Many people have lost their lives for want of treatment. The absence of doctors and nurses has added woes to the sufferings of the people,” says D. Basumatary, a resident of Bijni.

Primary healthcare centres in various places exist only in name. Those in remote areas like Koilamaila, Panbari, Amteka, Bishnupur have never had any doctor.

When the area experienced an outbreak of malaria and jaundice this year, the healthcare administration was again found wanting. “Many people die of malaria, jaundice, diarrhoea and other common diseases primarily because they do not have access to healthcare facilities,” says a resident of Koilamoila .

Adding to the suffering of the healthcare-deprived populace in the hinterland is the condition of the roads linking villages to Bjini town. “We have to take patients to Bijni or Bongaigaon, which is at least 50 km away, through a totally damaged road. The survival of the patient during the journey depends on faith and sheer luck,” says another villager, Nabla Brahma, with more than a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

But with three legislators from the Bodo belt being accommodated in the Congress-led coalition ministry, residents still seem to believe that all is not lost. As for leaders of the Bodoland Territorial Council, they allegedly continue to promise and forget. For how long the people remain patient is, however, anybody’s guess.

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi said during a meeting with deputy commissioners in Guwahati on Thursday that 2,662 nurses had been appointed across the state under the National Rural Health Mission and that funds would not be refused for any health scheme in the rural belt. He asked the deputy commissioners to ensure that the money sanctioned by Dispur benefited the people for whom it was intended.