Basanti, March 9: The health department in Basanti block, West Bengal, is facing a severe crisis. The Maheshpur Primary Health Center has come to a standstill due to a significant shortage of doctors. Not only are there insufficient medical professionals, but the center also struggles with inadequate infrastructure.
Located under the Bharatgarh Gram Panchayat, the Maheshpur Primary Health Center is in a dilapidated state. The medical services here are alarmingly poor. While the names of doctors, nurses, and Group D staff are recorded on paper, their actual presence in the hospital is almost nonexistent. Despite one doctor being officially assigned, they rarely show up. The same goes for nurses and other staff members. Currently, only one pharmacist, Saurabh Jana, is consistently present at the hospital.
This pharmacist is responsible for examining patients and dispensing necessary medications. For thousands of residents in the Bharatgarh and Basanti Gram Panchayats, this health center is their primary source of medical care. However, the ten-bed facility is now limited to outpatient services, relying solely on the pharmacist for patient consultations and medication.
Local residents report that the hospital primarily provides medicines for fever, headaches, blood pressure, and diabetes. For more serious health issues, patients must travel approximately 12 kilometers to the Basanti Block Rural Hospital or 30 kilometers to the Canning Sub-Divisional Hospital.
The pharmacist claims that medical officers occasionally visit the hospital. However, they mainly rely on old prescriptions to dispense medications and do not provide any antibiotics.
Currently, the hospital’s condition is nearly in ruins. Plaster is peeling off the walls, and large plants have grown inside the rooms. Parts of the ceiling have collapsed multiple times. At present, only one room is being used for outpatient services, but even there, debris falls from the ceiling.
Residents state that several departments used to operate in this hospital. However, instead of improving, services have deteriorated further. Local people have staged protests multiple times for the repair of the hospital building and improvement of health services, but they claim these efforts have yielded no results. The pharmacist has also reported a lack of drinking water at the facility.
In response to these allegations, Basanti MLA Shyamal Mandal has denied the claims regarding the hospital’s poor condition. He stated that an investigation will be conducted, and the district health officer will be instructed to take appropriate action.
Meanwhile, the opposition has seized the opportunity to criticize the ruling party over this issue.
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