Mohali: The health and wellness centre at Kumbhara village here is unique in its own right as patients and pregnant women have to climb a dozen steps to get consultation. Around 8 to 10 pregnant women visit it daily, who find it difficult to climb the narrow stairs in dilapidated and unhygienic conditions. Broken toilet seats and untidy furniture greet them at the cave-like entrance. The sub-centre has been operating in the village panchayat’s dharamshala for the past decade. Decades-old junk is dumped in the hall on the ground floor of the building, there is a three-room dispensary on the first floor with a makeshift toilet and the dharamshala on the top floor. Climbing up is a tough task for pregnant women who come with their children. Not just this, the narrow stairs also have a slope, which poses a risk of tripping while climbing or descending. Locals consider it no less than a dispensary when there is a need for immediate medical treatment and emergency. Expecting mothers come here for consultation and medical advice. Around 100 pregnant and new mothers are registered here. Community health officers and ANMs (auxiliary nursing midwives) are posted here. It serves as a temporary medical camp with two-three female doctors and nurses during cholera outbreaks in the village.
Parul, Rekha and Seema, who came for check-ups, said that going up and down was very tiring and risky as visitors jostled for space on the narrow stairs. “It is very difficult to handle pregnant women and their babies here,” said a female visitor. “The surroundings are dirty and unhygienic. It does not look like a dispensary. The silence of the medical staff on the situation speaks volumes,” said another visitor. Imagine the number of visitors coming here, as a medical camp was set up to take care of patients with cholera-like symptoms. It is clear from looking at the sub-centre that it started as a temporary arrangement, but with time and official apathy, it became a permanent arrangement. “Strictly speaking, this is not a dispensary but a community health centre,” said Dr Davinder Kumar, Mohali civil surgeon.
