States »EasPosted at: May 28 2021 5:07PM Meghalaya to set up two pre-fabricated Corona Centres
Shillong, May 28 (UNI) The Meghalaya government will set up two new pre-fabricated Corona Care
Centres with 100 bed each in Shillong and Tura to arrest the shortage of beds for COVID-19 patients, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said.
Interestingly, Health and Family Welfare Minister Alexander Laloo Hek isn’t too keen on the pre-fabricated facility and justified that funds meant for constructing the two prefab hospitals should be used to strengthen the existing healthcare infrastructure.
However, Tynsong said that the government has already decided to go ahead with the proposed construction of the two Corona Care Centre through pre-fabricated structures considering the urgency and challenges of the COVID-19 situation in the State.
“The prefab hospitals supposed to be constructed in open spaces would ultimately have to be demolished. Therefore, why waste public funds and I strongly that the fund should be utilised to strengthen the existing healthcare infrastructure,” Hek contended.
The Deputy Chief Minister informed that the Government of India had sanctioned Rs 6.7 crores of funds through the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) for the two pre-fabricated facilities.
In fact, some hospitals in the State capital Shillong were scrambling for beds with the rising number of COVID-19 patients.
Of the 1113 oxygen fitted and ICU beds, 796 were occupied as on Thursday night.
All the 115 beds that include 103 of them oxygen-supported and 12 ICU beds in the State-owned Shillong Civil Hospital are occupied as of Thursday night, health officials said.
Meanwhile, the Thma U Rangli Juki (TUR), a civil society group in Meghalaya has termed the government’s plans to construct the two pre-fabricated Corona Care Centres as an “unnecessary spending spree of wasting Rs 6.7 crores towards construction of 2 prefab centers at Shillong and Tura, that are to have 100 beds each, at the cost of 2.5 crore each.”
Echoing Health and Family Welfare Minister’s contention, TUR leader Angela Rangad said the government should utilise this money in creating and upgrading ICU facilities in Districts where even ventilators and fully equipped ambulances are not available at District Civil hospitals.
“It is shocking that persons who need intensive care have to rush to Shillong and Tura and that even ambulances for transporting them are not available. The market price of ventilators is 14 lakhs each and 2 crores can fetch at least another 14 ventilators which are desperately required given that the ventilators provided by the PM care funds were all unfit for use. The state govt should have made this known to the public and raise a stern objection with the Modi led BJP central government,” Rangad said.
Questioning the government on the purchase of ambulances
which were bought last July, 25 and said that the government had announced 75 crores towards the upgrading of Primary Health Centres, TUR asked, “What was gained and achieved with these needs to be immediately informed to the public”, and said that the state needs long-term planning and not indulge in piecemeal planning and useless expenditure.
“It is imperative that the crumbling healthcare infrastructure of the state is revamped and hence resources judiciously used towards this and also towards skill building and ensuring trained human resource availability. The government has also asked local bodies to help with community covid care centers and resources should be made available towards this effort,” Rangad said.
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