Rs 21cr for hospital upgrade

Sourav Chakroborty (seated left) at the Rogi Kalyan Samity meeting in Alipurduar . Picture by Anirban Choudhury

TT, Alipurduar, June 14: The government has sanctioned Rs 21 crore for the Alipurduar district hospital to construct a new out-patient department, a psychiatric unit, quarters for doctors and administrative buildings for the chief medical officer of health and assistant CMOH among others.

Sourav Chakroborty, the Alipurduar MLA, today convened a meeting of the Rogi Kalyan Samity of the district hospital as its chairman for the first time. The district magistrate, the superintendent of police, the superintendent of the district hospital and the chairman of the municipality were present at the meeting.

After the meeting, Chakroborty told journalists that the state government had sanctioned Rs 21 crore for the district hospital yesterday.

"With the funds, we will build administrative buildings for the chief medical officer of health and the assistant CMOH. A boundary will be built with gates on two sides of the hospital. There will be a new out-patient department, a psychiatric unit with 10 beds each for men and women and a trauma unit," said the MLA.

The Alipurduar district had been formed in 2014 and soon, the subdivisional hospital was upgraded to the district hospital.

Chakroborty expressed annoyance over the presence of touts at the facility and announced certain measures to check their entry. "Doctors will have to wear uniforms and they cannot entertain medical representatives in the OPD. No one will be allowed to enter the hospital without visiting cards and identity cards. We have to keep touts away."

The MLA said the entire facility would be under the surveillance of CCTV cameras and a public address system would be put in place. "From tomorrow, police will restrict the entry of any public vehicle without patients into the hospital. A shed will be constructed on the hospital campus where all private and government ambulances will be parked."

Chakroborty said although 1.23 lakh people came to the hospital every month, only 1,0000 visited the fair price shop. "We have formed a committee to monitor the functioning of the shop where medicines are sold at cheap rates. In case of an emergency, the hospital will give life saving drugs if a patient's relatives are not found. Above all, I would like to see the hospital neat and clean as it is frequented by people from as far as Bhutan and Cooch Behar."

At the meeting, Chakroborty declared "vision 2018" by when the hospital would be in a better shape.