Health Centre accused of distributing medicines without check-up

By Ajay Shah,Gaushala, Mar. 14: Complaints have surfaced that medicines are being distributed to patients without proper medical examination at the Primary Health Centre operating in Bishambharpur of Ramgopalpur Municipality–6 in Mahottari.

According to reports, Kajal Kumari Mandal, an office assistant working at the health centre, has been providing medicines to patients without conducting health check-ups.

Mandal, who has passed the Secondary Education Examination (SEE), admitted that she provides available medicines based on the symptoms described by the patients visiting the health institution.

She said that she often has to handle duty alone at the health centre. “Most of the time, I have to manage the duty alone here. Patients visit throughout the day and need to be served. The office chief, CAHW Suresh Mahato, usually stays outside. After patients explain their problems, I provide the medicines available here accordingly. If the problem is not clear, I consult senior Assistant Health Worker (Sr. AHW) Mahato by phone,” she said.

Mahato is the only permanent staff member at the health centre. For the past few days, he has also been assigned the additional responsibility of Ward Secretary of Ward No. 6 of the same municipality. Locals allege that due to this dual responsibility, he is only occasionally present at the health institution.

Local resident Ram Vinay Yadav of Ramgopalpur Municipality–6 expressed serious dissatisfaction over the situation at the health centre. “Distributing medicines without conducting health examinations is extremely irresponsible and risky. It directly endangers patients' health. If responsible staff members are not present at their workplace, how can the public avail the service? The concerned authorities must immediately take necessary action to stop such negligence,” he said.

Chief Administrative Officer of Ramgopalpur Municipality, Achhelal Das, said that Mahato had been assigned the additional role of Ward Secretary due to a shortage of civil servants across the municipality. According to him, the letter assigning the responsibility clearly mentioned that Mahato must spend most of his time at the health institution, but the lack of compliance has led to the current problem.

Local residents also reported that the health centre lacks regular cleaning, resulting in increasing waste and poor service management.

Meanwhile, three children were injured after the main entrance gate of the health centre collapsed. The incident occurred on Sunday while they were playing during a public holiday.

The injured have been identified as seven-year-old Rabin Yadav, seven-year-old Gautam Yadav, and eight-year-old Dipesh Yadav.

Among them, Rabin Yadav is said to be in serious condition. His father Birendra Kumar Yadav said Rabin sustained severe injuries to his waist and has been taken to Kathmandu for further treatment.

According to locals, the wall and the main gate, constructed at a cost of around Rs 4.5 million by the Madhesh Province Government, had only recently been completed.

Chief Administrative Officer Das said the municipality would investigate the incident in detail and take necessary action. He added that as the incident occurred on a public holiday when the office was closed, the full details have not yet been confirmed.