The last village along the Line of Control and two other villages in Tangdhar sector of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district are facing absence of doctors and medical staff, the locals have alleged.
The villages of Teetwal, Nachin and Batapora in Tangdhar, nearly 200 kms from Srinagar, are suffering from the absence of doctors and medical staff at the Unani dispensaries established under the Indian System of Medicines (ISM).
“The dispensary remains open for three days and one of the low-grade employees attends the dispensary. He then has to attend some other dispensary for the rest of the days of the week,” said Abdul Rashid, the headman of Teetwal village.
A doctor posted in the village, Rashid alleged, had last visited the dispensary in October last year.
He further said that to date the village was provided with three ambulances – by the Army and by the Members of Parliament Shareef Din Shariq and Muzaffar Hussain Beigh. “None among them is available at the health center as some days earlier I was told that they will be auctioned as they are not in working condition.”
The residents of Nachin and Batpora villages also alleged that the dispensaries there are functioning without doctors. They alleged that doctors posted at these remote villages “prefer to remain in and around the district headquarter rather than performing their duty at their respective places of posting”.
The road connectivity with Tangdhar remains cut from the district headquarter Kupwara during the winter months.
Last month, during a Public Darbar held by District Development Commissioner Kupwara Imam Udin, the residents of the Tangdhar had raised the issue but it is yet to be resolved.
Imam Din confirmed to The Kashmir Walla that the three villages are facing the issue of absence of doctors. “I have asked Assistant District Medical Officer Kupwara, ISM, to immediately detach doctors to their respective places of posting. The issue will be resolved soon,” he said.
