Claims of development in IIOJK ring hollow as Kralpora hospital lacks specialist doctors
Over one lakh residents struggle for specialized healthcare amid administrative inaction
Srinagar: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), the prolonged shortage of specialist doctors at Sub-District Hospital (SDH) Kralpora in Kupwara has left more than one lakh residents struggling to access specialized healthcare, forcing patients to travel long distances for treatment.
According to Kashmir Media Service, residents said they had repeatedly brought the issue to the attention of the concerned authorities and sought the posting of specialist doctors at the hospital, but their pleas have yielded no results.
They said only a handful of doctors were posted at the hospital, leaving it inadequately equipped to meet the healthcare needs of the large population it serves.
“We do not have specialist doctors including ENT, orthopaedics, ophthalmology and paediatrics specialists. As a result, we have to travel to Kupwara or Handwara for treatment. I fail to understand why specialist doctors are not being posted here,” a local resident, Irfan Lone, said.
“After our hospital was upgraded to an SDH, we had high hopes of getting better healthcare facilities, but nothing like that happened. This hospital caters to more than one lakh people but has never been a healer to them,” he added.
Residents also questioned the functioning of the hospital’s operation theatre, saying that although it was made functional a few years ago, not a single surgery had been conducted there so far.
They urged the Health Department to fill the vacant specialist posts and ensure that SDH Kralpora provides adequate specialized healthcare to the population it serves.
The situation has also raised questions about claims of development in IIOJK following the BJP-led Indian government’s revocation of the territory’s special status in August 2019. Residents in various parts of the territory continue to report difficulties in accessing basic services, including healthcare, roads and drinking water, with protests frequently held over administrative inaction and deficiencies in public services.
