Koraput, Aug 9 (ANI): Owing to the continuous threat posed by Maoist ultras in the region, health care facilities in Orissa's Koraput District have been severely affected and tribal villagers have to walks for miles to get themselves treated.
The government officials admit that the public health infrastructure in the Maoist-affected areas is deficient, but claim that there has been an improvement and a number of initiatives are still underway.
As far as access to health services is concerned, personnel of the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) scheme provide the only ray of hope for the tribal communities.
In fact, ASHA is a vital link between these tribal communities and the public health system.
"Now-a-days, the Maoist activities have increased manifold in this region. We have this constant fear in our mind that the Maoists might harm us. This is an inaccessible area. There are times when there is no provision of even an ambulance, so we have to hire a private vehicle to take the patient to the hospital. It has become very difficult for us, but then we serve the people here and it is our duty to save the patient," said Parvati Dora, a villager. .
ASHA personnel too have not been able to do justice to the tribal villagers.
At times tribals have to cover about 12-15 kilometres of wild terrain of the Koraput hills on foot, as Maoist threat prevents people from giving their vehicles on hire.
The hills have never been an obstacle for the locals, but the poor infrastructure intertwined with Maoist activities in the area and life- threatening fear has made life miserable for these dwellers.
The health facilitators conduct their campaigns to persuade villagers, including tribals, to get themselves immunised. In addition, they try to arrange facilities for giving routine check-ups to avert any major health hazard, in spite of the poor infrastructure.
"This area is a Maoist-prone area and the fear has been instilled among all the locals. We have to work at odd hours, but we don't complain since this is our duty. We are doing this service and risking our life at the same time. The main difficulty is to bring the pregnant women to the hospital. The situation is so grave that nobody wants to give their vehicle on hire," said Sabitri Bis, a villager.
The state administration has been finding it difficult to provide transport due to extremist threat, and access to transport facilities has now become a far-fetched dream for the tribals.
To add to tribals' woes, the public health centres set up by the district administration are in shackles, with cracked walls all around and absence of doctors in the clinics.
The villagers of the region have been putting up with the problems patiently. " They understand that it does take time to deliver medicines. We are trying to solve this problem and develop connectivity " said Santosh Pradhan, Block Development officer, Ramgiri, Koraput district. (ANI)
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