Finally government has woken up. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah approving the proposal to construct a new 250-bed children hospital at Bemina is a welcome move. Omar has asked the Health and Medical Education department to finalize building construction plan along with Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the hospital within two weeks. One hopes that the department adheres to the deadline.
More than 350 infants dying in the G B Pant hospital, the lone children’s hospital in the Valley, since January this year has sent alarm bells ringing across the Valley. At last the government has realized that to prevent more deaths it has to act. Proposal has been approved, now it remains to be seen that how long it would take to get implemented.
If the concerned departments act swiftly one hopes that the new building of the Children’s hospital would get completed before 2014 Assembly polls. If government fails to complete it within time, the opposition parties make an issue of it and can project it as government’s “biggest failure.” One hopes NC led coalition government would keep all these things in mind and ensure that it gets the new building completed during its tenure.
History stands testimony to the fact that during past years many foundation stones have been laid but work has failed to take off. One hopes government takes this project seriously. If sincere efforts are put in, having children hospital established within two years is not a big deal. The former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad during his tenure ensured that the Hajj house building was completed within the stipulated time. He inaugurated it before demitting the office.
It is unfortunate that government slept over the issue of having one more children’s hospital for all these years. Had it anticipated that G B Pant hospital won’t be able to cater to the heavy rush of patients, situation could have been different today. May be many children could have been saved.
Progress of any state is gauged through the fact that how healthy its health sector is. More than 350 neonates dying within a period of few months has proved that our health sector is ailing and needs a major overhaul. Having a new building only is not going to help. A new approach needs to be adopted vis-à-vis the entire health sector. 
People for a longtime were not aware about the sorry state of affairs in G B Pant hospital they came to know about it only after media highlighted the issue. Had media not done it possibilities of the government clearing the proposal to set up a new hospital were bleak. Media could reach G B Pant as it was located in the heart of the city. One can imagine the plight of the hospitals which are located in the far flung areas and are away from the media glare. God only knows what happens to the infants who are born in the hospitals which are located in far off areas.
People at the helm need to realize that they have to reach out to such areas which are inaccessible and are in dire need of medical facilities. Had these areas been taken care of it could have reduced the rush in hospitals in the Srinagar city. Only having one more children’s hospital in the city won’t be enough, lot still needs to be done.

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Lastupdate on : Fri, 1 Jun 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 1 Jun 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 2 Jun 2012 00:00:00 IST