CHC charges up to Rs 150 for OPD ticket

IMPHAL, Jul 27: Delegation of duties by Government employees to non-employees is not restricted to teachers. Even doctors and nurses have been found delegating their duties to substitutes.
While many Government health centres in different parts of the State have been found utterly inefficient, messy and wayward, characterised by shortage of infrastructure, absenteeism, signing on attendance registers in advance and delegation of duties to substitutes, Moirangpurel Community Health Centre (CHC) has surpassed other health centres by charging up to Rs 150 for an OPD ticket.
Five doctors and three nurses are posted at Moirangpurel CHC located in Imphal East within Andro Assembly Constituency.
Dr Surbala is one of the five doctors posted at the CHC but she allgedly delegated her works to one Dr Rabi.
Dr Rabi who is said to have completed MBBS has been working at the CHC on behalf of Dr Surbala for quite a long time.
As a part of their campaign of inspecting Govern- ment health care facilities, a team of the People’s United Youth Alliance (PUYA) visited Moirangpurel CHC today.
The team found a substitute doctor working in place of a Government-appointed doctor. They also found that the CHC was functioning like a private clinic by charging exorbitant fees for OPD tickets.
The CHC was found charging Rs 100 for normal OPD ticket and Rs 150 for emergency ticket.
Moreover, the CHC was found charging pregnant women Rs 300 each for taking ultrasound and Rs 500 each for other patients.
Some staff said that the CHC was functioning in collaboration with Raj Medicity under PP model but this arrangement came to an end after the COVID-19 pandemic.  
Later, a committee was formed and it was looking after the CHC. At the moment, some staff nurses hired by the MLA of Andro AC have also been working at the CHC, they said.
PUYA general secretary Longjam Abothe said that there is no specialist doctor at the CHC.
In addition, Government doctors and nurses posted at the CHC have been found delegating their works to substitutes as is prevalent in many other health centres.
The CHC has been found charging exorbitant fees for OPD tickets ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 150, much higher than the rates fixed by the Government which are Rs 10 and Rs 20.
Moreover, the CHC charges Rs 300 for ultrasound scanning of pregnant women and Rs 500 for other patients just like a private hospital or clinic. No charges should be applied for ultrasound sound scanning in Government health centres, Abothe said.
The CHC has an X-Ray machine but it is not working for want of necessary components, he said.
Highlighting the issues of absenteeism, delegation of duties to substitutes, signing on attendance registers in advance and charging exorbitant fees for OPD tickets,  the PUYA general secretary urged the authorities concerned to streamline the functioning of CHCs and PHCs at the earliest.
He also urged the authorities to take befitting action against those Government doctors who delegated their duties to substitutes.