Kulgam, Feb 13 (KNO): After elapsing almost six years, the New Type Primary Health Center (NTPHC) at Chowgam area of Qazigund in South Kashmir's Kulgam district is yet to be made functional, thereby causing hardships to the locals.
The locals from the village told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the construction work of the NTPHC building at Chowgam, Qazigund started in 2018 and was completed after two years. However, they said that building has not been made operational so far for unknown reasons.
“Though the construction on the building was completed two years ago, it has not been made operational due to the careless approach of the concerned department and the district administration Kulgam,” Vijay Raina, a BJP leader said.
He said there is some dispute between the contractor and authorities, but n fails to understand why the common people are being pushed to the wall.
“For urine test or headache, the villagers have to visit the emergency hospital Qazigund. Thousands of people of Chowgam and its surrounding area are suffering in absence of health care facilities,” Javid Ahmad, a local resident said, adding that the government has spent a lot of money for the construction of the NTPHC building, but the general public is not benefiting from it.
Accusing the Health department of indifference, he said that if the building was functional, they would have been able to get all the facilities here and people would not have been forced to travel long distances for minor treatments.
Speaking to KNO, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Kulgam, Mohammad Rafiq Dhobi said he will look into the matter. “We are hopeful that it will be made functional soon,” he said—(KNO)