Visakhapatnam: Medical and health services have almost ground to a halt in rural areas of the district due to the ongoing strike by contract employees of 104 vehicles for the past three days.
Though the service provider Piramal Swasthya Management and Research Institute (PSMRI) claims that it has ensured 90 per cent implementation Chandranna Sanchara Chikitsa programme in the villages, the situation on the ground remains alarming in the rural areas of the state.
“Patients suffering from diabetes and blood pressure in our village have been waiting for the 104 vehicle. Also, pregnant women need to go King George Hospital (KGH) for regular check-up and the issue of tablets,” said B. Satyanarayana from M. Alamanda village of Devarapalli.
He said that the villagers, particularly expectant mothers, are facing difficulty in travelling in buses to reach KGH. After knowing that a 104 vehicle had come to Mushidipalle, some villagers went to the neighbouring village. But it had left by that time they reached.
The situation is similar in other villages of Bheemili, Chodavaram, Reddipalle, Padmanabham, Narsipatnam and Makavarapalem mandals in the district.
Doctors visited with hired drivers and left conducting tests in these villages. The Chief Minister’s Dashboard too has not been updated so far.
According to the PSMRI management, alternative arrangements like hiring vehicles, temporary drivers and paramedical staff have been made. The PSMRI claimed 100 per cent attendance by all medical officers in the rural areas of the state.
However, villagers are suffering from lack of medical services not only in Vizag district but also rural parts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and East Godavari districts. Around 292 vehicles serve 13,523 villages across the state under the CSC programme.
The 104 Contract Employees Union affiliated to CITU recently went on indefinite strike demanding PSMRI pay minimum wages as per the GO No 151. Except doctors, all other employees including drivers, lab technicians and pharmacists participated in the strike.
Union district president B. Ravi Chandra said that the state government has redressed their long-pending demands but the service provider was not implementing the GO. Employees have sought the difference amount in their salaries effective May, 2018.
The PSMRI management calls it as unrealistic demand, and says that the employees that went on strike were misled by a certain section of people. It has urged them to withdraw the strike and resume duties immediately.
