The Central Hospital of East Coast Railway zone at Mancheswar here was set up in 2003 to provide medical facilities to the railway employees and their family members. It was expected to provide quality healthcare to more than 40,000 beneficiaries.
To give proper medical services to its employees, crores of rupees have been spent from Government exchequer for developing infrastructure and procuring equipments like ultrasound, X-ray units and other sophisticated machineries.
But ironically there are no skilled staff, pharmacists, and pathologists available to run these costly equipments efficiently. Also there are no specialist doctors available for eye, skin, ENT and other diseases.
Due to which this hospital is running with assistance of Honorary Visiting Specialists (HVS) doctors on contract. But these HVS doctors are absent most of the time and patients are suffering due to the alleged mismanagement of the Chief Medical Director and Medical Director , said sources.
lot of irregularities has also come to the limelight. One Assistant Nursing Officer(ANO) posted in the Central Hospital, is continuing in the same hospital for last 25 years; in different capacities like Sister, Matron, Chief Matron and ANO in the same Central Hospital at Mancheswar.
Under a specific trade union of this railway the present ANO is enjoying absolute power and she is deploying Matrons, Group-D staff and contractual employees of this hospital arbitrarily which is leading to corruption in the knowledge of higher authorities. To save the skin of the higher authorities one of the doctors was transferred recently but the ANO, who is under the scanner is continuing in the same post raising questions on the transparency in the transfer policies of Railway Board and functioning of the Vigilance Commission.
As the higher officials are posted in one place for years in one railway zone, these poor railway staffs are allegedly being exploiting by the trade union agents, who are acting as middlemen in the knowledge of Chief Medical Director and Medical Director.
The victimised employees have demanded immediate transfer of the Chief Medical Director and ANO from this Central Hospital for providing proper medical facilities to all the employees.