Ama Sankalp health scheme falls flat in R’gada

Ama Sankalp, an innovative health initiative in Rayagada district, was conceptualised and inaugurated by Collector Guha Punam Tapas Kumar during September 2016 and was meant to reduce infant and maternal mortality rates (IMR and MMR).

Bike ambulances were introduced specially in Kalyansingpur block during the year 2017 in the context of providing health services to Dangaria Kandha tribals of cutoff areas in Niyamagiri hills. Bus services were initiated this year to school students and especially women in pregnancy, who were crossing the torrential streams and rivers in dangerous conditions by local made country boats, tubes and vessels.

Movable/mobile medical tents were provided to inaccessible villages. Scores of impregnated bed-nets were freely distributed among villagers as a preventive  measure to combat malaria and dengue. Vaccination was conducted en masse for Japanese Encephalitis.

All these were good steps without proper implementation and monitoring at CHC/PHC/Sub-Centre levels. Though Ama Sankalp yielded some good results, other initiatives ended up in a fiasco.

The CDMO never agreed that there was a single death due to dengue this year though more than ten persons died of the dreaded disease after diagnosed in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

The ambulance bikes are dysfunctional now. The buses owned by the private parties withdrew the service citing the reason as high running and maintenance cost.

There are 817 hard to reach villages according to the statistics provided by district administration. 86 movable tents for same number of inaccessible villages were purchased spending Rs11,13,356.00 out of District Mineral Fund of 2016-17. Ten tents have been provided to Kashipur which has highest number of inaccessible villages, ie, 150. Equal number of tents have been provided to Padmapur block where the number of such villages is 33. The logic behind the distribution is best known to the CDMO. Unfortunately these tents have till not reached any single village leading to criminal wastage of resources from the DMF.

There are 11 Community Health Centres(CHCs) in the district, 38 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and 236 Sub-centres in the district. For Rayagada, the CHC is situated in Jemadeipentho which is around 10 km from the district headquarters. There are five PHCs under this CHC. Khilmisguda PHC is dysfunctional according to the local medical staff.

The PHC at Kerada does not have basic amenities like a single lavatory. The bed strength in the CHC is only six whereas all the PHCs under it have not a single bed. The number of sub-centres is 33. No ANM or medical staff stay in any sub-centre of the CHC. If this is the situation of headquarters CHC, one can imagine the situation of Kalyan Singhpur, Kashipur, Chandrapur and Gudari blocks.

Carrying the pregnant tribal women by cloth tied with bamboo sticks is still going on in Kayan Singhpur in the absence of 102/108 ambulance, which is non-responsive even after continuous phone calls by the family members of the patients. In spite of Collector’s instructions, the CDMO is yet to take action in the case of Mita Sabara of Perupanga village under Padmapur block. A dibyangjan named China Majhi Kadraka alias Chinababu of Kalyan Singhpur block is yet to get proper assistance  from the district administration in spite of order from District Collector during grievance.