Building in a shambles, Primary Health Centre shifted to chaupal

Deepender Deswal
Tribune News Service
Hisar, May 27

Citing poor health facilities in the rural areas, a Primary Health Centre (PHC), which was constructed and handed over to the government by a philanthropist in 1983, was abandoned after the building was declared ‘condemned’ in 2018. The Health Department staff has been operating the PHC from a chaupal in the village. However, in the absense of space for labs, admission of patients and delivery services, the staff is unable to impart medical care to the patients.

Was built by philanthropist on 4 acres

• The building was constructed by Harphol Chand Tayal, a philanthropist, on four acres provided by the village panchayat.
• The then Chief Minister, Bhajan Lal, inaugurated the PHC in 1983, and 18-member staff, including two medical officers, were deployed at the centre, to provide healthcare facilities to Satrod and five adjoining villages.

The building was constructed by Harphol Chand Tayal, a philanthropist, on four acres provided by the village panchayat. The then Chief Minister, Bhajan Lal, inaugurated the PHC in 1983, and 18-member staff, including two medical officers, were deployed at the centre, to provide healthcare facilities to Satrod and five adjoining villages. The PHC had 10 beds for patients. The health centre helped in institutional delivery in the region.

Krishan Satrod, Zila Parisad member, said the health facilities had been reduced to just a consultation centre, as the outdoor patients department (OPD) was confined to a room in the chaupal. The admission of serious patients and institutional delivery had to be stopped after shifting due to lack of space and infrastructure.

Naresh Kumar, a retired pharmacist, who provided services at the PHC for about 30 years, said there were four residences in the campus. “The doctors and other staff were available round the clock. However, gradually, the building started crumbling and they had to shift to the chaupal,” he said, adding that on an average there used to be 3,000 OPD patients in a month.

Satrod said the no repair was carried out. “In the absence of maintenance, the building was declared unsafe in 2017, and the health staff shifted the hospital to a chaupal inside the village. After serving about five to six villages for over three decades, the building stands abandoned now.”

He said the village panchayat had submitted a proposal for reconstruction of the building, but there was no response from the state government.

“During Covid-19 crisis, the villagers prefer to stay in their homes than visit expensive hospitals in Hisar town. Though the government has set up an isolation centre in a government school, the villagers prefer to take services of quacks and RMPs than visit the unit that has no medical facilities,” said Satrod.