PANAJI: Taking strong view of the number of facilities unavailable at the Goa Medical College hospital, the first report of demands-related as hoc House committee on health and social welfare 2010 tabled in the state legislative assembly, observed that the standard of cleanliness in the GMC is much below the standard in comparison to private hospitals, and recommended the government to improve the standard of cleanliness on par with private hospitals.
"The GMC hospital, in spite of being a premier health institute in Goa, does not give a good picture when there is shortage of beds in the maternity wards and patients being accommodated on the floor, and hence the committee suggests that extra space and beds should be allotted to the maternity ward before the process of renovation (of the maternity ward) is completed," the report recommended, pointing out that the number of pharmacies in the GMC hospital is less as compared to the number of patients it takes care of, which results in shortage of medicines provided by these pharmacies, and hence the number of pharmacies in the GMC complex should be increased.
Furthermore, the report of the committee, chaired by the Priol MLA, Mr Pandurang Dhavalikar stated, "The committee is not satisfied with the reply given by the government that the selection of candidates for recruitment on various posts in the GMC hospital was done by following recruitment rules in force, and it has come to the notice of the committee that most of the candidates are selected from specific areas." "The committee therefore strongly suggests the government that selection of such candidates should be done in such a way that people from different parts of Goa are selected and favouritism to specific areas be avoided," it added.
The report also recommended that the additional morgue with 90 cabinet capacity, should be constructed in the stipulated time and the contractor penalised, if work is not completed within the stipulated time.
Taking a serious look at the functioning of the health services in Goa, the report expressed astonishment over absence of 108 ambulances for Bicholim. It also maintained that there is a challenge on the part of the health department to eradicate malaria from Goa, and therefore, it has to make more efforts in strengthening healthcare services by implementing new methods and precautionary measures in eradicating the disease.
"The committee is very much concerned with the rise in the number of cases of AIDS in the state, and recommends that Goa State AIDS Control Society must spare no efforts in creating awareness about AIDS particularly among the youth and should have a full-fledged programme to take care of patients affected by the same," the report recommended, adding "The committee recommends the government to speed up renovation work as patients in TB hospitals face lot of inconvenience due to pathetic conditions of the hospital and unhygienic environment."
"The committee is of the view that shortage of doctors in Canacona hospital is one of the major reasons for non-utilising of the hospital to its full potential and hence strongly suggests the government to fill the vacant posts of the doctors immediately," it recommended, pointing out, "As there is no response from the eligible candidates to fill the posts of doctors in the PHC and UHC, the committee suggests the government to employ doctors from neighbouring states, which can be done by offering them best of salary with good facilities as compared to other states, which will solve the problem of shortage of doctors."
Discussing the social welfare issues, the committee report stated, "The committee strongly recommends the government that it should clear genuine pending cases under Dayanand Social Security Scheme and increase the funds allocation, if necessary, wherever, and further the government should build a mechanism, which would help in detecting fraudulent cases, and penal action should be initialled against fraudulent applicants."
"The committee is not happy with the present measures taken up by the department of women and child development in curbing child labour, and is of the view that the government should come up with a concrete solution by amending the existing Goa Children’s Act, 2003, by inserting the penal provision to the parents of the child who make their children work for their own benefits," it concluded.
