By Firdous Hassan
Srinagar, June 7: Despite various central government sponsored schemes in place, the government-run health institutes in the state continue to lack proper sanitation facilities and hygiene.
A fresh survey by Quality Council of India, which covered almost 18 Public Health Centres as samples in different districts of the state, found that majority of them lacked “proper washroom facilities with littered surroundings”.
The survey was recently submitted to the Union Ministry for Drinking Water and Sanitation, which revealed that only 39 per cent of the health centres had an access to toilets.
At the national level, around 76 per cent of the PHCs have access to the toilet facility.
The survey added that around 11 per cent of these PHCs had littered surroundings, which, at the national level, is around seven per cent only.
The overall sanitation in the state this year has been already declared the worst in India.
In the last three years, the state’s sanitation coverage has improved only to 40.97 per cent from 20.38 per cent in 2014.
According to the data available on Swachh Bharat Mission dashboard, over 2 lakh (2,02,238) individual household toilets were constructed in rural J&K since the launch of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014.
Sources in the Rural Development Department said the majority of these health centres were located in rural and remote areas.
“Topography of a place or areas also poses some challenges. At many places it is too difficult to construct or even ferry the material for building a public convenience,” they said.
Officials in the health department said the lack of sanitation in the health centres was primarily affecting maternal healthcare.
“In these PHCs, majority of the pregnant women visit for medicines and often there are chances that they might get infected with diseases. So, the government essentially needs to ensure hygienic surrounding around the health centres,” they said.
Minister of state of health, Asiea Naqash, has also directed the officials for maintaining sanitation in the health centres.
“As a part of the Swachh Bharat Mission mandate, it is important that all the hospitals are well maintained and clean, in order to move towards the target goal of a healthy, unpolluted environment,” she told officials.
