Satinder Singh Anantnag 25Aug; The shifting of Maternity and Child Care Hospital (MCCH) to Rehmat-e-alam hospital sarnal Anantnag has not been done from the past 15 years and the building has fallen vacant despite spending crores of rupees.In this regard, people have strongly criticized the administration and said that if the establishment of the required hospital is not safe here, then at least the Chief Medical Officer Anantnag should be shifted here.As reported earlier the existing Maternity and Child Care Hospital is functioning in a dilapidated and unsafe building in Sherbagh locality of Anantnag town. The place is congested and the hospital faces a space crunch because of which more often patients’ mostly pregnant women are being shifted to Srinagar. The locals have been demanding that the hospital be shifted to the Rehmat-e-alam building. However, the political interference to safeguard the economic interests of the chemists outside the hospital premises has become the main stumbling block in the shifting of the hospital.Notably, this building has been constructed on 29 kanals of land and has a parking capacity of 800 vehicles. At present, a drug store is operating here. The first two floors were constructed by the Rehmat-e-Aalam Trust 15 years back. The government had later started the process of taking over in 2015.In February 2017, the government accorded sanction to taking over the building by the Health and Medical Education Department with all its assets and liabilities.Later in the month of March 2020, IIT Jammu was instructed to conduct the safety audit of the under-construction hospital building and an amount of Rs. 21.30 Lakh was released to them.The work on the Rs 12.12 crore hospital was stopped midway, mainly due to paucity of funds.However, early last year, the former Lieutenant Governor G C Murmu sanctioned Rs 9 crore more for the project.But the work again remained on halt due to the pending safety audit report.Speaking to , district commissioner Anantnag, Dr Piyush Singla,said that the Health department is waiting for a green signal from JKPCC, as they have earlier suggested that the building cannot be made functional for hospital activities.Meanwhile, Director health Dr Mushtaq Ahmad Rather was available,as both his numbers were switched off.According to , the lack of medical facilities in the rural areas of South Kashmir often leads to critical conditions of women and children during pregnancy and most of them die by the time they reach the city hospitals. After which the government and Rehmat Alam Trust had decided to construct a four storied hospital building at Rehmat Alam Colony, KP Road, Sarnal Anantnag,If the building is unsafe for the desired hospital, then the Chief Medical Office, at least six kilometres from the town, should be shifted here so that people do not have to travel long distances for their daily work, demanded locals (CNS)
