THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, March 24: Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar has directed the district election officers of Palamu, Garhwa, Latehar and Chatra to have an effective plan to meet any medical distress on the day of polling, which is May 13, for the Palamu Lok Sabha seat and May 20 for the Chatra Lok Sabha constituency. K Ravi Kumar was in Daltonganj on Saturday.
Medical plan
The medical plan is to make available ready-to-use, proper, and accurate medicines for the members of the polling parties and accompanying security forces who may have any onset of health disorder.
The chief electoral officer has suggested deploying one paramedic at each polling station and a doctor at every ten booths.
One doctor per ten booths
Sources said the administration can’t afford to have its government health centres empty of doctors by dispatching them to the booth, one doctor per ten booths. There are 1796 booths in Palamu district, so the number of doctors is far less.
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There are 79 doctors and 1195 paramedics, including community health officers, ANMs, GNMs, Lab Technicians, Pharmacists, BPMs, etc, in Palamu district.
Palamy DC cum District Election Officer Shashi Ranjan was looking for the civil surgeon Dr Anil Kumar, who was conspicuously absent and far away from Daltonganj too on the day the chief electoral officer was in Daltonganj for the review of the poll preparations for the four districts: Chatra, Latehar, Garhwa, and Palamu.
District programme manager presents plan
The district programme manager, Deepak Kumar Gupta, rushed with the medical plan for its presentation for the review of the chief electoral officer.
Sources said the nodal officer of the Karmik Koshaang Kundan Kumar, an additional collector in Palamu, had to exert himself to prepare the medical plan. Had this officer Kundan Kumar not plunged headlong into it, the medical plan could not have been presented to the chief electoral officer.
Hence, the doctors’ services in the 17 empanelled hospitals under the aegis of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana in Palamu may be taken.
IG of police Palamu zone Narendra Kumar Singh, in conversation with this correspondent, said, “There must be life-saving medicines. I believe the medical kit to be given must carry anticoagulants, oral rehydration, etc.”
The IG of the police asked officials using diabetes, hypertensive drugs, heart medicines, etc., not to be unmindful of it but to be more specific about it on the day of polling, which is both a joyful and stressful day.
