The discarded stock of medicine at the Primary Health Centre at Sudra village in Kandhamal district | Express
BERHAMPUR: Even as patients in urban areas are often deprived of adequate supply of medicines under the State Government’s flagship Niramaya Yojana, expired stock worth more than Rs 1 lakh was found dumped in the backyard of the staff quarters of the Primary Health Centre at Sudra village of Baliguda block in Kandhamal district.
According to sources, the medicines had been lying there for the past few days. Locals alleged that the health centre staff had preferred to stock up the medicines instead of distributing those among the patients. Contacted, pharmacist Pravat Chandra Das said he was ignorant about the dumped medicines as he had joined the centre recently. The pharmacist insisted that the stock had been discarded much before he took the outlet’s charge.
The Superintendent of Baliguda Hospital, U S Misra, was also unaware about the discarded medicines. “I will probe into the matter and take action against the guilty,” he said.Earlier, it was reported that many medicines under the scheme were unavailable at MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur. According to the patients, they were being forced to go to private medical stores as drugs were not available at Niramaya counters.
The scheme was launched in May 2015. Though patients can avail 570 types of drugs under the scheme, only 272 varieties are being reportedly supplied to the outlets at various health centres and hospitals by Odisha State Medical Corporation.
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