People suffer from mismanagement at Kaunia hospital

Monirul Islam Mintu, Kaunia (Rangpur)

The only health complex for the people of the six unions of Kaunia Upazila in the district has all the government facilities but the people are deprived of those due to mismanagement.

Although there are generator and IPS at the health complex but due to the lack of fuel allocation and the lack of required manpower, these facilities cannot be used properly. As a result, on the one hand, government resources are being wasted, on the other hand, the common people are not getting basic services.

While visiting the health complex on Sunday night, a ghostly atmosphere was seen. The entire health complex was dark as the load-shedding happened. Patients were squirming in bed in the heat. Some were found to roam on the balcony.

Ujjal Sarkar, a relative of a patient in the male ward, said, “My uncle is very ill and I admitted him to this hospital on the advice of the doctor. I am fanning him with hand-fan as the electricity is off. I heard that the hospital has a generator but it is never turned on. My question is what is the benefit of things that are not used for the benefit of the patients?”

Another patient, Anwar Hossain of Harishwar Village, said, “I was admitted to the hospital due to loose motion for a few days due to heat. The heat is unbearable when the electricity goes out.”

Resident Medical Officer of Kaunia Upazila Health Complex Dr. Abu Tariq Hossain said, “As far as I know after getting the new responsibility, the generator is used during surgeries only when fuel is allocated for that. At other times, when the power goes out, the generator is not run because there is no allocation of the fuel required to run it. The hospital is an emergency service center. It would be great if Palli Bidyut arranges to keep the hospital free from load-shedding.”

DGM of the Kaunia Palli Bidyut Office said, “There are separate lines for upazila parishad, police station, and Kaunia Health Complex. After this, we have nothing to do in case of load-shedding.”

Kaunia Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer Dr. Sadikatul Tahirin said, “The electricity needed to run the generator is not supplied. I am new here. But I am trying to know why it is not running even after having IPS. Hopefully, the problem will be resolved in a few days.”