Nov. 28: Well-equipped operation theatres, X-Ray machines, pathology departments — healthcare centres in the North Cachar Hills have them all. Patients wish they had a few doctors, too.

Gun-toting rebels have ensured that doctors look for a ways to wriggle out of the health centres when posted there.

As it were, the administration is not too ambitious or particular when asking for adequate medical staff.

There are just four MBBS doctors, 15 Ayurvedic and a few homoeopathy practitioners for the 12 health institutions outside the district headquarters Haflong.

“To meet a specialist, a patient has to visit the district headquarters. How we can imagine sending a specialist to these areas where even the recruited general doctors are praying for transfer?” a source in the health department said.

“In fact, when a doctor discovers that he has been posted outside Haflong, he refuses to join,” he said.

The hill district has two community health centres — one in the Maibong subdivisional headquarters and the other is in Umrangsu town.

On paper, the Maibong community health centre has an allopathic, an Ayurvedic and a homoeopathy doctor each while the Umrangsu community health centre has one MBBS and two Ayurvedic doctors.

“Both these institutions have sufficient infrastructure but because of shortage of specialists, nobody can depend on these for Caesarean and other surgeries,” the source said.

“Of what use are these buildings or these sophisticated machines when there is no one to run them?” he added.

Out of the five public health institutions in Mahur, Langting, Harangajau, Gunjung and Doyangmukh only the one at Gunjung has an MBBS doctor. “We have two state dispensaries at Jatinga and Dihangi. The one at Jatinga is running with an MBBS doctor. The three subsidiary health centres at Boro Akrab, Laisong and Hajadisa have one ayurvedic doctor each,” the source said.