Several PHCs across district remain incomplete, unused

Metro India News | MAHABUBABAD 

Despite the government's commitment to strengthening rural healthcare by investing crores of rupees in the construction of Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and Health Sub-Centres, several newly built facilities in Mahabubabad district remain locked and unused for months due to unfinished minor works. Although the buildings are largely complete, essential infrastructure such as electricity connections, drinking water supply, compound walls, ramps for persons with disabilities, toilets and interior finishing work is still pending at many locations. As a result, these healthcare facilities have not been commissioned, depriving rural residents of access to improved medical services.

Patients, too, are compelled to receive treatment in overcrowded and poorly equipped buildings, affecting the quality of healthcare delivery. Residents allege that many health centers are nearly 95 percent complete, but a handful of pending works have prevented them from being opened for public use. They attribute the delays to the non-release of relatively small amounts of funding and a lack of coordination among government departments. As a result, buildings constructed at significant public expense are lying vacant and gradually deteriorating due to prolonged neglect.

Allegations have surfaced that contractor negligence, delays in fund releases, and inadequate monitoring by officials have contributed to the slow pace of execution. The delays have had a direct impact on vulnerable sections of the population, including pregnant women, children, elderly residents, and patients suffering from chronic illnesses. Many are forced to travel to distant healthcare facilities for better treatment, while villagers say emergency medical care is often delayed because local centers are either incomplete or non-functional.

A Health Sub-Centre building constructed several years ago at Intikanne village in Kesamudram mandal of Mahabubabad district at a cost of several lakhs of rupees has remained unused and is now serving as a temporary shelter for bereaved families, highlighting the prolonged delay in commissioning the public healthcare facility. Residents said the unused building has gradually become a refuge for families with no permanent shelter in the village. Ironically, while the newly constructed Health Sub-Centre remains idle, medical and health department staff continue to provide healthcare services from the village's old gram panchayat building, which is reportedly in a dilapidated condition.