The Meghalaya Pradesh Mahila Congress (MPMC) has expressed deep concern over the current state of government healthcare facilities across the state.
In a release issued today, the MPMC said that access to affordable and quality healthcare is a basic necessity but many families in Meghalaya still face immense financial strain when a family member falls ill.
“Our public healthcare system is plagued with multiple issues – ranging from lack of doctors and specialists, inadequate infrastructure, shortage of medicines, and poorly equipped hospitals – especially in rural and remote areas,” it said. “This forces many people to seek expensive private treatment or travel to other states, pushing them deeper into poverty.”
The MPMC listed areas that it views as priorities and called for the state government to strengthen primary health centres (PHCs) by ensuring they are fully staffed with qualified doctors and medical personnel and equipped with essential medicines and diagnostic facilities; upgrade district hospitals with better infrastructure, advanced medical equipment and specialist services so that critical cases can be handled within the state; recruit more healthcare workers, especially in rural areas, and ensure they are adequately trained and motivated through fair salaries and incentives; implement health insurance effectively, ensuring that schemes like PM-JAY and Megha Health Insurance Scheme are accessible to all eligible citizens without corruption or red tape; improve maternal and child health services, especially in tribal and hard-to-reach areas, through mobile health units and outreach programmes; and create a state healthcare taskforce to regularly audit public hospitals, monitor quality of care and receive public grievances on healthcare issues.
“We believe that health is not a privilege, but a right. No citizen of Meghalaya should have to choose between their health and their financial survival. We appeal to the government to act now before more lives are lost due to inaction,” the Mahila Congress added.
