Kendrapada: The Kendrapara Medical College Establishment Committee (KMCEC) has decided to stage a mass protest in front of Raj Bhawan in Odisha capital on September 28 to press its demand for setting up a medical college and hospital in the district.
According to reports, the Committee took the decision on Saturday at a meeting convened to discuss inordinate delay on part of the state government to fulfil its promise. It was revealed at the meeting that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and other BJD leaders had promised to set up a government medical college in the district during campaigning before the last general elections.
The Committee members condemned the government inaction in taking steps to implement the pledge made to the people of the district. They also said more than half of sanctioned doctors’ posts have been lying vacant in the district for a long time. As a result, the people are deprived of basic healthcare services while critical patients have to go all the way to SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack, they added.
“Due to non-availability of doctors in the government hospitals, many villagers are dependent on quacks in many areas. Moreover, access to healthcare is so poor that babies are born before the mothers reach the hospital while the critically ill or the injured die on way to hospitals in remote villages,” they said.
“We have decided to stage a dharna in front of the Governor’s House in Bhubaneswar on September 28. Around 5,000 people from the district will participate in the protest to press our demand for the establishment of a medical college in the district,” TNIE quoted KMCEC president Ajay Samal as saying.
