5k Kendrapara people to stage stir near Raj Bhawan demanding medical college

KENDRAPARA: Peeved over the State government’s silence over setting up of a medical college and hospital in the district, a large number of people under the aegis of Kendrapara Medical College Establishment Committee  (KMCEC)  have decided to stage a dharna in front of  Raj Bhawan in Bhubaneswar on September 28.

The decision was taken at a meeting on Saturday where, president of the committee Ajaya Samal said, during the last elections, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and other BJD leaders had promised to set up a government medical college in the district. But nothing has yet been done. “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,” said Samal.   

Members of the committee alleged more than half of sanctioned doctors’ posts  have been lying vacant in  the district  since long as a result healthcare has gone for a toss. “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 alleged .