V. Sivankutty, MLA, has accused the government of soft-pedalling the development of the Panchakarma hospital at Poojappura, one of the premier Ayurveda health care institutions in the country.
In a pressnote, he said the previous LDF government had spent Rs.8 crore on the construction of a five-storied building for the hospital and created new posts for the institution. “However, only a temporary OP section is functioning from the new building now. There has been no move to install a lift in the five-storied structure or equip it with an X-ray unit. Most of the posts are lying vacant. The hospital lacks an approach road, compound wall and security. Medicines and oils are not stocked in sufficient quantity,” he said.
Mr. Sivankutty said inter-departmental squabbles had affected the functioning of the hospital.
“The Hospital Development Committees for the Ayurveda college, Panchakarma unit, and the hospital for women and children are now defunct. Strangely, the Ayurveda college and the Panchakarma unit, both coming under the hospital and functioning within the same premises, fall in different constituencies, contributing to the stunted development of the institution.”
Mr. Sivankutty said he had written to the Health Minister urging him for immediate steps to reconstitute the hospital development committees and convene a meeting to discuss the development of the institution.
