Silchar Medical College Plagued by Inadequate Facilities

Special Correspondent

Silchar: The premier Silchar Medical College which celebrated golden jubilee two years ago continues to be plagued by inadequate medical facilities. This is the only state-run institution of modern treatment for the people of Barak Valley, Dima Hasao district and the adjacent bordering areas of Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur as well as Meghalaya. This is also the first and the last destination for the patients, mostly poor and needy, of these areas who can hardly afford to have treatment in nursing homes and private hospitals.

But sadly enough, Bhabatosh Chakraborty, secretary, SUCI Cachar district committee, rued SMC is not in a position to meet the hopes and aspirations of the people who depend on it with high hopes. It has failed to keep pace with the changing time. It is surprising that even after 52 years of its existence, essential departments of urology, nephrology, neurology and oncology are yet to come up. The department of cardiology is running without any specialised cardiologist, cardiac surgeon and even general cardiologists.

Not only that, as Chakraborty pointed out, basic infrastructure and human power are lacking. There is shortage of doctors, nurses, grade 4 employees, technicians in almost all the departments and staff which stand in the way of rendering the much needed services to patients. Overall infrastructure facilities are insufficient to cope with the rush and needs of patients. SMC at the same time is hit by lack of diagnostic appliances and instruments for which patients are put in long queue and wait for their turn to come. Other state run medical institutions across the district of Cachar in rural and semi urban areas including Silchar Civil Hospital are no better.

These too are running with shortage of doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and diagnostic appliances. The building of Civil Hospital is old and dilapidated and needs renovation . Bhabatosh Chakraborty said the attention of the Chief Minister was drawn to these problems several times, but without any fruitful result. The death of a boy of this town, Sayantan Chakraborty , due to proper medical intervention at SMC recently and the citizens’ outburst brought in promises from a Cabinet Minister of this valley which fizzled out in no moment. Concerned citizens, students and youths hit the street under the banner of SUCI on Wednesday, demanding of the Chief Minister to look into the grievances of people to address them for immediate solution.

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