With the intention to ease footfall at the District Hospital, several local units in Salyan district had initiated the construction of basic hospitals in the last fiscal year.

The federal government had allocated Rs 97.8 million for the construction of hospitals in eight local units of Salyan. However, ten months since the foundation stones were laid, the construction work of several hospitals has yet to begin.

Many local units have cited a lack of suitable land plots and delay in preparation of detailed project reports behind the project’s inability to take off.

On November 30, 2020, Bangadkupinde Municipality and Darma, Kapurkot, Chhatreshowri, Kumakh and Siddhakumakh rural municipalities had laid foundation stones to construct hospital buildings with a 10 to 15-bed capacity each. The deadline of the project is two years from the stone laying date but construction work has not begun on any of the locations.

“A land plot has been purchased for the construction of a hospital building in Bangadkupinde. But we cannot start the construction of the hospital until the municipal assembly meeting takes place,” said Basudev Pokharel, coordinator at the Health Unit of Bangadkupinde Municipality. “All of the work has been hampered due to the pandemic.”

Bachaur Municipality and Kalimati Rural Municipality did not lay foundation stones of their hospitals citing land plot shortage.

“The construction work of the hospital has been delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. We had to focus on the health situation and were unable to carry out several development projects,” said Dan Bahadur Khatri, chairman of Kalimati Rural Municipality. “The construction work of the hospital will gain pace after the completion of the tender process.”

Reshamraj Bohara, a resident of Kumakh, says despite the government’s initiatives to make quality medical services accessible to the local people, its lackadaisical approach towards the project’s implementation speaks volumes about its inefficiency.

“If a basic hospital is established here, it could save us a lot of trouble. People will be able to get quality medical care in the village itself instead of relying on private health facilities for treatment,” Bohara said.

According to him, treatment in Kumakh-based health posts is ineffective due to a lack of human resources, medical equipment and essential medicines.

“The District Hospital in Khalanga is always crowded. If the government could construct basic hospitals in the local units, the flow of patients in the District Hospital would be manageable,” said Dasarath Shrestha, manager of the District Health Office in Salyan.

According to him, patients with even minor illnesses such as headache and indigestion have to visit the District Hospital in Khalanga, the district headquarters of Salyan, for treatment.

The District Hospital in Khalanga receives up to 150 patients on a daily basis, the hospital record showed.