The Khasi Students Union (KSU) has pointed to a lack of facilities in two separate Primary Health Centres (PHCs).
The KSU South West Khasi Hills unit highlighted Wahkaji PHC, which has just one doctor and no ambulance despite the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Other failings include an electricity transformer that cannot bear the load of even a few cooking appliances for the staff. There are also only five beds in the PHC, of which just one is attached to an oxygen cylinder.
Two more doctors have been allocated to the facility, though they are yet to join work.
Wahkaji PHC covers around 30 villages and is 40 kilometres from Mawkyrwat, the district headquarters.
Meanwhile, the Mawthadraishan unit of the KSU informed that a similar state of affairs can be found in the Pathew PHC.
There is an urgent need for another ambulance and a separate isolation ward for Covid patients. Space for staff is also lacking, with just one room set aside for nurses, which could post a problem if one of them happens to contract the coronavirus.
Although the PHC has a supply of oxygen cylinders, specific beds have not been allocated for Covid patients separate from those suffering from other ailments. This poses a risk of spreading the infection, the KSU said.
