KOKRAJHAR: Assam Legislative Assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary on Thursday morning held a meeting with the citizens of Kokrajhar on the issue of RN Brahma Civil Hospital and Kokrajhar Medical College and Hospital (KMCH) at Kokrajhar Circuit House. Many prominent personalities-Padmashree Dr. Mangalsing Hazoary, retired principal of Kokrajhar Govt. College Teachers’ College, Dr. Binay Brahma, retired Principal of Kokrajhar Government College, senior citizens, professors of different colleges, BTC EMs and former cabinet minister of Assam Pramila Rani Brahma who had been actively taking part in the protest programme opposing the merger of RN Brahma Civil Hospital with KMCH were present in the meeting. The District Commissioner, Kokrajhar P.K. Dwivedi and other officials were also present.
Speaker Biswajit Daimary took the opinions from the citizens on the issue of present crisis of RN Brahma Civil Hospital and KMCH and called upon all the conscious citizens of Kokrajhar to deeply think about the ground reality before creating confusion among the masses who are not well aware of the present crisis in KMCH. He also called upon the District Administration to organize public awareness meetings on the row of RN Brahma Civil Hospital and KMCH besides appealing people to avail medical treatment at KMCH.
Later, talking to media persons, Speaker Biswajit Daimary said there had been some protest programmes in Kokrajhar opposing the merger of existing RN Brahma Civil Hospital with KMCH. He said both RN Brahma Civil Hospital and KMCH were situated in Kokrajhar and people of Kokrajhar need the services of both the institutions but the matter of fact is that the Medical College and Hospitals have to follow the norms and guidelines of the Medical Council of India (MCI) and according to the guidelines, the daily visit of patients should be at least 450 but there is flowing of only 50-60 patients at KMCH per day. He said the government was not against the interest of the people of Kokrajhar and there is no proposal to close down RN Brahma Civil Hospital but to increase the flow of patients in KMCH and to meet the norms of the medical college and hospital, the temporary merger was taken but there is no question of close down of the civil hospital. He also said, “Villagers think the Medical College is only for the classes of medical students but no treatment is done for which they generally look for treatment in civil hospitals. That misapprehension should be removed from the common masses”. He further said the district administration, conscious citizens and democratic organizations should make people aware about the medical facilities in KMCH where the required equipment, doctors and facilities are available.
Daimary said those who had been in the protest programmes or leading the series of agitation should clear their stand whether they want exist of only RN Brahma Civil Hospital or both and if they really want continuation of both the medical institutions, they should come and put forward their suggestion how to meet the norms of the MCI and how to survive the RN Brahma Civil Hospital and KMCH in future. He appealed not to confuse the general masses by organizing protests but to make people aware about the treatment facilities in KMCH.
It may be mentioned that the decades-long demand for establishment of a Medical College in Kokrajhar came into reality after the BTC accord. The Kokrajhar Medical College and Hospital (KMCH) in Assam was formally inaugurated on April 14, 2023 virtually by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi from AIIMS, Guwahati. The KMCH aims to enhance the healthcare facilities and medical education in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR). The college offers an intake of 100 MBBS students per year and is equipped with modern facilities, including a 500-bed hospital. The KMCH has obtained approval for 2nd batch admission from the National Medical Council (NMC) on May 15 last. But the fact of the matter is that there is still a lack of para-medical staff and required machinery in the hospital. Due to lack of Radiologists, technicians and other para-medical staff, the CT scan, X-Ray machines and other machineries remained idle and patients had to move to Kokrajhar town nearly 10 km for CT scan and X-Ray.
The Sentinel correspondent visited the KMCH recently to find out the reality and talked to the Superintendent, Additional Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent and Associate Professor. The Additional Superintendent of KMCH Dr. Anupal Sarma and Deputy Superintendent Dr. Amit Kr. Mushahary shared the current status and functioning of the KMCH. They said the KMCH had strength of 91 doctors for Medicine, Gynaecology, Paediatrics, ENT, Psychiatry, Dermatology, Dental, Ortho and Surgery departments but there is lack of para-medical staff and Radiologists to operate CT scan and X-Ray machines etc. They said due to lack of para-medical staff and technicians the 52 ICUs (36 for adults and rest for children and pregnant women) are not in use. They also said the X-Ray, CT scan machines have already been installed but are not operational due to the need of technicians. However, they said a Radiologist from Guwahati was to the KMCH very soon. The Ultrasonography, Laparoscopic and ECG machines are functional, they said, adding that some of the serious patients with various complications were referred to other hospitals on different grounds but the number of referrals of patients is declining fast. They said as per norms of the NMC the daily visit of 800 patients per day was mandatory but the visit of OPD patients in KMCH is very low.
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