VIJAYKUMAR KHOPRE
CUNCOLIM: Balli Health Centre was known as Jelegadh de soude during Portuguese time.
This primary health centre did not get the promotion to term it as a community health centre. Locals along with the people’s representatives made several demands to the government to upgrade the status of Balli PHC into a CHC but were not successful. This Health Centre is the only ray of hope for patients. More than sixty thousand people depend on this Centre. There are four Doctors and twelve staff nurses working in PHC Balli.
Balli PHC like other health centres is also facing problems. It should have been a facility with twenty beds. Quepem MLA Chandrakant Kavlekar wanted to develop the Balli PHC as the main centre for health management.
Former chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar had inaugurated the new building of Balli PHC on November 1, 2014 when he was the health minister.
Since the thirty two months it was inaugurated nothing has really changed. The maternity ward and the paediatric ward are not in use; only two wards are in use. There are fifteen beds used for all sorts of patients. The government recently appointed an ayurvedic and homeopathic doctor beside a dentist and ophthalmic technician who were earlier also appointed in this centre.
Unfortunately, this PHC is only acting as a first aid centre.
There are no expert doctors available. Even for casualties like accidents and other emergency services, this centre acts only as a first aid facilitation centre and refers serious patients to Hospicio Hospital Margao.
Besides an X-ray machine, there are no other facilities available in this Centre.
The Balli PHC also serves schools as there are more than 37 primary schools, two middle schools, 12 high schools, three higher secondary schools and one college under the its jurisdiction. There are eight such centres and one rural medical dispensary in this area.
The PHC has to look after 50,000-odd population but it is short staffed and not able to reach out to the needy.
The government must upgrade this centre into a community health centre and must provide some specialist doctors if not on regular basis at least twice a week.
From Margao to Canacona and from Betul to Quepem, Balli PHC is the lone Primary Health Centre. With the NH-17 passing through Cuncolim, accidents occur on a regular interval. The government must provide good health facilities in Balli PHC.
The PHC has sufficient space to house major medical equipments and expert doctors that are sorely lacking.
