NONGPOH:
Former MLA of Umsning constituency Dr. Celestine Lyngdoh on December 19 urged the government to inaugurate the newly constructed maternity and children health hospital at Parila.
The foundation stone for the hospital had been laid on October 11, 2017 by former chief minister Dr. Mukul Sangma and during the tenure of Lyngdoh as the MLA of Umsning constituency.
“The main objective of this hospital is firstly to cater to child delivery and special health care for children below 12, and secondly to decongest the Ganesh Das Hospital,” Lyngdoh said.
He said that during his tenure as an MLA and as a doctor, he could not bear to see young children and mothers, who go for treatment and child delivery to Ganesh Das Hospital, sleeping on the floor of the hospital.
“I requested Dr. Mukul Sangma, as a doctor himself, he can understand. The hospital has been constructed at a total expenditure of Rs 14.7 crore with 50 beds, good water supply, proper staff quarters, electricity, power back up generator, oxygen plant. After I lost the 2018 election, the work did not continue and now the only thing needed is manpower. But the present MLA and the present government do not seem to care, as instead of opening the hospital, they are ignoring it,” he stated.
“If the government starts operation of this hospital, it will be a blessing for the people of this area. The children and pregnant women can be admitted in this hospital instead of them having to go to Ganesh Das Hospital, where people from all over are referred to by many CHC and PHC. It leads to overburdening of the hospital and proper treatment cannot be dispensed.
“But once this MCH hospital starts functioning, at least nine health centres, PHC and CHC in Ri Bhoi district can refer patients to this hospital and they will receive the same treatment as the one given at Ganesh Das Hospital in Lawmali,” he added.
As per Lyngdoh, once the hospital starts functioning, it will help cut the travel expenses of the patients from Ri Bhoi district, and it will also provide employment to the youth and locals of the area. He further said that if he wins the 2023 Assembly election, he will bring other projects that will benefit the locals of Ri Bhoi district.
He also mentioned that the hospital had been used as a quarantine centre in the year 2021 during the Covid pandemic, and that it has all the necessary equipment and lacks only a proper road and manpower to function.
Speaking to The Meghalayan, Lyngdoh said that during his tenure from 2013 to 2018 he tried his best to bring development in his constituency, and that if he is elected again, he will bring more development and finish all the pending projects that the present MLA has neglected.