The BJP unit of Khariar staged demonstration in front of the Community Health Centre of Khariar on Wednesday on the issue death of children in Sishu Bhawan at Cuttack under the leadership of Sajnay Tiwari.
More than 100 party members gathered in front of the CHC and spoke about the negligence and exploitation done by the health functionaries like doctors and the nursing staff in the District Headquarters Hospital at Nuapada and different CHCs in the district. “It is sad that the doctors and the nurses are taking bribe from poor people for providing treatment,” said the demonstrators.
They complained that the doctors are taking money from the patients in different ways. “Dr Dinabandhu Mahanand, who is the gynaecologist in the CHC at Khariar extracts more than Rs1, 000 for conducting delivery. likewise, the patients are asked to purchase medicines from the medicine stores,” said the leaders.
Instead of sitting in the hospital during office hours, the doctors are sitting in their quarters and medicine stores for private practices, they added. The demonstrators also expressed their discontent over the behaviour shown by the nursing staff to the patients. “Serious patients admitted in the hospital are asked to walk from their beds to the nurse chamber for administration of saline and injections. The nurses never go near the beds to serve the patients,” said the leaders.
Senior party leader Manohar Gahir, Jadumani Panigrahi, Pruthiraj Mahanty, Chittaranjan Mahapatra, Mukunda Barik and Samarjit Patra also spoke against the corrupt practices of the health functionaries and demanded actions. A memorandum addressed to the Governor was submitted to the BDO, Khariar.